The effect of low-level laser on postoperative pain after tibial fracture surgery: A double-blind controlled randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Background: Postoperative pain is a common complication that can lead to serious morbidities and delayed recovery. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of low-level laser therapy on acute pain after tibial fracture surgery. Patients and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial, 54 patients who were candidate for tibial fracture surgery were allocated randomly to two groups, namely, control and laser therapy. Both groups had the same type of surgery and technique of spinal anesthesia. Patients in laser group were treated with the combination of two lasers (GaALAs, 808 nm; and GaALInP, 650 nm) at the end of the surgery while control group received laser in turn-of mode with the same duration as laser group. Patients were evaluated for pain intensity according to the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the amount of analgesic use during 24 hours after surgery. Results: Laser group experienced less pain intensity in comparison with control group at second, fourth, eighth, 12th, and 24th hours after surgery (P Value < 0.05). In addition, the amount of consumed opioid in laser group was significantly less than the control group (51.62 ± 29.52 and 89.28 ± 35.54 mg, respectively; P Value, 0.008). Conclusions: Low Level Laser Therapy is a proper method to reduce postoperative pain because it is painless, safe and noninvasive and is easily accepted by patients. © 2014, Iranian Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ISRAPM).