1992 年 4 巻 3 号 p. 107-115
Advances in the application of low reactive-level laser therapy (LLLT) in the treatment of rheumatologic disease entities are presented from the author's experience in a major rheumatology centre in Cologne, Germany. The literature is reviewed, showing clear evidence for the effectiveness of LLLT in this field. An uncontrolled clinical study on the effectiveness of LLLT using a 904 nm diode GaAs laser and a mixed 904 nm and 632.8 nm (HeNe) laser in the treatment of intractable chronic tendinopathies is reported, with effective rates well over 80% for pain both at rest and in motion. Mild and reversible side effects, which may , double-blind cross-over study on the effectiveness of LLLT for advanced (stage III-IV) ankylosing spondylarthritis using a mix of 904 nm and 632.8 nm laser energy gave effective pain attenuation, with significantly higher effectiveness shown by real as compared with sham LLLT. There was no significant effect on either laboratory tests or on spinal ROM. The effective rate for conventional chemotherapeutic agents, non steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is seen in the literature as high as 85%, but the side-effects are many and serious, even resulting in a very small percentage of cases in death. Although more research into actual mechanisms and pathways is needed, LLLT is presented as a safe, noninvasive, easy to apply and comparatively side-effect free modality offering the clinical rheumatologist an effective tool in the treatment of therapy-resistant rheurnatologic disease entities.
