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Fibromyalgia |
Efficacy Of Low Power Laser
Therapy In Fibromyalgia: A Single-Blind,
Placebo-Controlled Trial
Gur A, Karakoc M, Nas K, Cevik R, Sarac J, Demir E.
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of
Medicine, Dicle University, Diyarbakir,
Turkey. alig@dicle.edu.tr
Lasers Med Sci. 2002;17(1):57-61.
Low energy lasers are widely used to treat a variety
of musculoskeletal conditions including
fibromyalgia, despite the lack of scientific
evidence to support its efficacy. A randomised,
singleblind, placebo-controlled study was conducted
to evaluate the efficacy of low-energy laser
therapy in 40 female patients with fibromyalgia.
Patients with fibromyalgia were randomly
allocated to active (Ga-As) laser or placebo laser
treatment daily for two weeks except weekends.
Both the laser and placebo laser groups were
evaluated for the improvement in pain, number of
tender points, skinfold tenderness, stiffness, sleep
disturbance, fatigue, and muscular spasm. In
both groups, significant improvements were achieved
in all parameters (p<0.05) except sleep
disturbance, fatigue and skinfold tenderness in the
placebo laser group (p>0.05). It was found
that there was no significant difference between the
two groups with respect to all parameters
before therapy whereas a significant difference was
observed in parameters as pain, muscle
spasm, morning stiffness and tender point numbers in
favour of laser group after therapy
(p<0.05).
None of the participants reported
any side effects. Our study suggests that laser
therapy is effective on pain, muscle spasm, morning
stiffness, and total tender point number in
fibromyalgia and suggests that this therapy method
is a safe and effective way of treatment in the
cases with fibromyalgia.
Effects Of Low Power Laser And
Low Dose Amitriptyline Therapy On Clinical Symptoms
And Quality Of Life In Fibromyalgia: A Single-Blind,
Placebo-Controlled Trial
Rheumatol Int 2002 Sep; 22(5):188-93
Gur A, Karakoc M, Nas K, Cevik R, Sarac J, Ataoglu
S.
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation,
Dicle University School of Medicine, 21280
Diyarbakir, Turkey, mailto:alig@dicle.edu.tr
PMID: 12215864
The purpose of this study was to examine the
effectiveness of low power laser (LPL) and lowdose
amitriptyline therapy and to investigate effects of
these therapy modalities on clinical
symptoms and quality of life (QOL) in patients with
fibromyalgia (FM).
Seventy-five patients with FM were randomly
allocated to active gallium-arsenide (Ga-As) laser
(25 patients), placebo laser (25 patients), and
amitriptyline therapy (25 patients). All groups were
evaluated for the improvement in pain, number of
tender points, skin fold tenderness, morning
stiffness, sleep disturbance, muscular spasm, and
fatigue. Depression was evaluated by a
psychiatrist according to the Hamilton Depression
Rate Scale and DSM IV criteria. Quality of life
of the FM patients was assessed according to the
Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ). In
the laser group, patients were treated for 3 min at
each tender point daily for 2 weeks, except
weekends, at each point with approximately 2 J/cm(2)
using a Ga-As laser. The same unit was
used for the placebo treatment, for which no\ laser
beam was emitted. Patients in the amitriptyline
group took 10 mg daily at bedtime throughout the 8
weeks.
Significant improvements were indicated in all
clinical parameters in the laser group (P=0.001)
and significant improvements were indicated in all
clinical parameters except fatigue in the
amitriptyline group (P=0.000), whereas significant
improvements were indicated in pain (
P=0.000),tender point number ( P=0.001), muscle
spasm ( P=0.000), morning stiffness
(P=0.002), and FIQ score ( P=0.042) in the placebo
group. A significant difference was observed
in clinical parameters such as pain intensity
(P=0.000) and fatigue ( P=0.000) in favor of the
laser group over the other groups, and a significant
difference was observed in morning stiffness
(P=0.001), FIQ ( P=0.003), and depression score (
P=0.000) after therapy. A significant
difference was observed in morning stiffness (
P=0.001), FIQ (P=0.003), and depression (
P=0.000) in the amitriptyline group compared to the
placebo group after therapy. Additionally, a
significant difference was observed in depression
score ( P=0.000) in the amitriptyline group
incomparison to the laser group after therapy.
Our study suggests that both amitriptyline and laser
therapies are effective on clinical symptoms
and QOL in fibromyalgia and that Ga-As laser therapy
is a safe and effective treatment in cases
with FM. Additionally, the present study suggests
that the Ga-As laser therapy can be used as a
monotherapy or as a supplementary treatment to other
therapeutic procedures in FM.
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