The use of low-intensity laser radiation in the treatment of occupational diseases of the peripheral nervous system

Abstract

Introduction. Laser radiation, discovered in the mid-twentieth century, is actively used in modern medicine. Along with the effects of high-energy lasers, researchers are attracting more and more attention to the methods of low-intensity laser therapy in the treatment of various diseases of the peripheral nervous system. At the same time, there are very few works in which the effectiveness of low-intensity laser radiation action in occupational diseases of the nervous system would be assessed.The aim of study was searching for information on the modern understanding of the mechanisms of action of low-intensity laser radiation and on its use in the treatment of occupational diseases of the nervous system in Russian and foreign scientific literature.Materials and methods: The article presents an overview of available scientific Russian and foreign literary sources. Search and selection of sources was carried out using open databases PubMed and RSCI.Results. Low-intensity laser therapy has anti-inflammatory, analgesic, immunocorrective and reflexogenic effects. There are described cases of successful application of low-intensity laser radiation in the treatment of vibration disease, radicular and muscular tonic syndromes, carpal tunnel syndrome. At the same time, there are no works in which the influence of low-intensity laser radiation on the dynamics of professional polyneuropathy of the upper limbs would be assessed.Conclusions: The biological effect of low-intensity laser radiation is complex and many-sided. Low-intensity laser therapy has a wide spectrum of action on various pathogenesis pathways, it is a common method of treating diseases of the peripheral nervous system, including professional aetiology. The urgent task is to substantiate and develop a technique for using low-intensity laser radiation to treat patients with professional polyneuropathies of the upper limbs (as the most common occupational disease of the peripheral nervous system) and to evaluate its effectiveness during dynamic observation.