Adjunctive Approach to Therapeutic Laser and Exercise Therapies in Alleviating Pain and Disability in Patients with Low Back Pain: A Systematic Review.

Abstract

Low back pain (LBP), a globally prevalent musculoskeletal condition, affects mobility, mental well-being, and overall quality of life. It is generally caused by disc degeneration, muscular strain, ligamentous sprain, or a disease located at the lumbar spine. Owing to this disability, the social and occupational interactions of an individual might get affected. Modern medicine frequently combines exercise therapy with light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (LASER) therapy, especially high intensity LASER therapy (HILT) or low level LASER therapy (LLLT), to increase the efficacy of the treatment modalities for LBP. This review aimed to determine the effect of the combined approach of LASER and exercise therapies in managing pain and reducing disability in patients with LBP. PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and PEDro were searched for full-text research articles published from 2000 to 2023. Overall, 3,913 records were screened from these databases and six high methodological quality studies (PEDro ≥ 5) were included in this review after eligibility assessment. Review manager 5.4.1 was utilized to evaluate the overall quality of the review articles. In conclusion, HILT and LLLT serve as effective adjuncts to exercise therapy in treating LBP, contributing to pain reduction and disability alleviation.