Volume 85, Issue 10 , Pages 1657-1661, October 2004
Efficacy of multiwavelength light therapy in the treatment of pressure ulcers in subjects with disorders of the spinal cord: A randomized double-blind controlled trial
Abstract
Taly AB, Sivaraman Nair KP, Murali T, John A. Efficacy of multiwavelength light therapy in the treatment of pressure ulcers in subjects with disorders of the spinal cord: a randomized double-blind controlled trial. Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2004;85:1657–61.
Objective
To study the efficacy of multiwavelength light therapy in the treatment of pressure ulcers in subjects with spinal cord disorders.
Design
Randomized controlled trial.
Setting
Neurologic rehabilitation ward of a referral center in India.
Participants
Thirty-five subjects with spinal cord injury, with 64 pressure ulcers (stage 2, n=55; stage 3, n=8; stage 4, n=1), were randomized into treatment and control groups. One subject refused consent. Mean duration of ulcers in the treatment group was 34.2±45.5 days and in the control group, 57.1±43.5 days.
Interventions
Treatment group received 14 sessions of multiwavelength light therapy, with 46 probes of different wavelengths from a gallium-aluminum-arsenide laser source, 3 times a week. Energy used was 4.5J/cm2. Ulcers in the control group received sham treatment.
Main outcome measures
Healing of the ulcer, defined as the complete closure of the wound with healthy scar tissue, time taken for the ulcer to heal, and stage of the ulcer and Pressure Sore Status Tool score 14 days after last treatment.
Results
There was no significant difference in healing between the treatment and control groups. Eighteen ulcers in treatment group and 14 in control group healed completely (P=.802). Mean time taken by the ulcers to heal was 2.45±2.06 weeks in the treatment group and 1.78±2.13 weeks in the control group (P=.330). Time taken for stage 3 and 4 ulcers to reach stage 2 was 2.25±0.5 weeks in treatment group and 4.33±1.53 weeks in control group (P=.047).
Conclusions
Multiwavelength light therapy from a gallium-aluminum-arsenide laser source did not influence overall healing pressure ulcers. Limited evidence suggested that it improved healing of stage 3 and 4 pressure ulcers.
Key words: Laser therapy , Lasers , Pressure ulcers , Rehabilitation , Spinal cord injuries
Supported by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India (grant no. N/ABT/018).No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
PII: S0003-9993(04)00431-9
doi:10.1016/j.apmr.2004.03.028
© 2004 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Volume 85, Issue 10 , Pages 1657-1661, October 2004
