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Significant Pain Relief after Low Power Laser Treatment for Knee Osteoarthritis

Lasers Surg Med. 2003;33:5:330-338.
12/29/2003 02:16:00 PM
By Deanna M Green, PhD

Low power laser therapy (LPLT) effectively reduces pain and improves function and quality of life in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), according to a prospective, double-blind study. Effectiveness appears to be independent of dose and duration of laser treatment. LPLT has become a popular, noninvasive alternative treatment; though its effectiveness in osteoarthritis is still controversial. Conflicting results are likely due to variability in the method of application. Ali Gur, MD, and colleagues at the Dicle University School of Medicine, Diyarbakir, Turkey, conducted a randomised controlled trial to compare the efficacy of different protocols of infrared low-power Gallium-Arsenide (Ga-As) laser therapy to placebo in patients with knee OA. The study included 72 women and 18 men who were randomised to receive LPLT for 5 minutes (total 3 J), LPLT for 3 minutes (total 2 J), or placebo. All patients received 10 treatments over 2 weeks and also underwent an exercise therapy program throughout the 14 week study.

Both laser treatments led to significant pain relief that was evident from 4 to 12 weeks after end of therapy. Moreover, improvements in all pain parameters were significantly greater in the laser-treated groups than in the placebo group at all follow up evaluations. Improvements in pain were also noted in the placebo group 6 weeks after therapy. However, the authors note that this delayed benefit "may rise from the exercise therapy applied rather than the placebo laser therapy." Significant improvements in knee flexion and quality of life were also seen after laser therapy, but not after placebo therapy. Furthermore, patients who received longer LPLT showed significantly greater improvement in knee flexion than placebo. Morning stiffness improved in all groups during the study, with the most significant improvement seen in patients given longer LPLT.

The authors conclude that "short-period application of LPLT plus exercise is more effective in pain relief and in the improvement of functional ability and quality of life than that of placebo laser plus exercise in patients with knee OA." They further add that "application of LPLT in different doses and durations did not significantly influence the findings."