1991 Volume 11 Issue 4 Pages 3-9
We have been using low power laser therapy (LT) in 152 patients with chronic pain of different origins at our pain clinic in the past four years. The effect of LT was evaluated in two fashions: the immediate effect and the long term effect. The averaged effective ratio was 66.4% for the immediate effect. In the immediate effect, Very good were 36 cases (23.7%), good 65 cases (42.8%), no change 50 cases (32.9%) and worse a case (0.6%). The averaged effective ratio was 74.3% for the long term effect. In the long term effect, no pain were 21 cases (13.8%), light pain 92 cases (60.5%), no change 39 cases (25.7%) and worse was not observed. LT was particular effective in patients of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN). The total effective ratio were high about 90% for PHN. Complications attributable to LT included general fatigue, hot sensation of the irradiation areas and and temporally increased pain. However, no serious side-effects were obtained in this series of patients. In future, LT might become popular due to its simplicity and noninvasiveness.
