LASERTERAPY REDUCES PAIN AND EDEMA IN PATIENTS SUBMITTED TO ORTHOGNATIC SURGERY? SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Abstract

<h3>Objectives</h3> To evaluate the efficacy of laser therapy in reducing pain and edema in patients undergoing bimaxillary orthognathic surgery through a systematic review and meta-analysis. <h3>Study Design</h3> A search was carried out in the electronic databases PubMed, SCOPUS, Embase, SciELO, Web of Science, LILACS, IEEE XPLORE, OpenThesis, OpenGrey, and Open Access Thesis and Dissertations (OATD), until October 2020, and the PICOS strategy was followed. Treatment effects were defined as weighted mean difference (WMD) or standardized mean difference (SMD), and 95% CI were established. The strength of the evidence was analyzed using the GRADE classification system (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation). To calculate effect sizes, means and standard deviations (SD) were obtained for each study group and outcomes of interest. <h3>Results</h3> Three RCTs were included in the meta-analysis. Results favorable to laser therapy were found both for the pain outcome (WMD −1.33, 95% CI −1.99 to −0.55<i>, P</i> = < .0001, I2 = 47%) and for edema (WMD −0, 55, 95% CI −0.89 to −0.22, <i>P</i> = .001, I2 = 0%). <h3>Conclusions</h3> Thus, with moderate evidence, laser therapy showed a positive effect in reducing pain and edema in the postoperative period of bimaxillary orthognathic surgeries.