Abstract
ObjectiveTo compare the short-term effects of pulsed laser and pulsed and continuous ultrasound on pain and functional disability in women with chronic non-specific low back pain.MethodsThe sample was composed of 100 volunteers randomly allocated into four groups: The Pulsed Laser Group (n = 26) was treated with 3 J/cm2; the Pulsed Ultrasound Group (n = 24; 3 MHz) was treated with 1 W/cm2; the Continuous Ultrasound Group (n = 26; 1 MHz) was treated with 1 W/cm2; and a Control Group (n = 24), where the patients were still waiting for treatment. Before and after 10 sessions of treatment, the intensity of pain was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS), the quality of pain was evaluated using the McGill pain questionnaire and functional disability was investigated using the Roland–Morris questionnaire.ResultsThe three treated groups exhibited a decrease in pain (p < 0.001); the Pulsed Laser Group showed the greater relative gain (91.2%), Meanwhile, the Control Group exhibited a worsening of − 5.8%. The three treated groups demonstrated improvement in the quality of pain (McGill) in the total, sensory and affective dimensions (p < 0.005; p < 0.002; p < 0.013, respectively). All treated groups showed a decrease in functional disability (p < 0.001), but the Pulsed Ultrasound Group showed the highest relative gain (83.3%).ConclusionsThe three modalities have significant effects to decreasing low back pain and improving functional disability in women with non-specific chronic low back pain, but the pulsed low-level laser had the best results on pain while the pulsed ultrasound had the best results on improve the functional disability.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02150096.
Highlights
Low back pain (LBP) is one of most widespread and expensive public health problems in developed countries
Low back pain can be defined as a regional pain which is anatomically distributed between the last rib and the gluteal fold [4], extending to one or both lower limbs [5], often accompanied by exacerbation of pain and limitation of movement [4]
Women were chosen because the sex differences in pain perception, [23,24,25,26] and included with a diagnosis of chronic non-specific low back pain in only regions 36 and 37 of body pain map [27], who had been symptomatic for more than 4 months – thereby allowing their pain to be characterised as chronic, [28] with pain between 4 and 7 on the visual analogue scale (VAS) at the time of assessment to keep homogeneity of pain and with eutrophics
Summary
Low back pain (LBP) is one of most widespread and expensive public health problems in developed countries. Low back pain can be defined as a regional pain which is anatomically distributed between the last rib and the gluteal fold [4], extending to one or both lower limbs [5], often accompanied by exacerbation of pain and limitation of movement [4]. It is considered a pathology in the 10th revision of the International Code of Diseases by the World Health Organisation [6]. In terms of the causes of low back pain, 5–15% are related to severe diseases of the spine; about 85% of cases have a diagnosis of non-specific low back pain, which does not have a well-defined etiology [1]
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