Efficacy of High-intensity Laser Therapy (HILT) in the Patients With Cervical Disc Herniation

Summary

The worldwide prevalence of neck pain is between 16.7-75.1%, it has been seen at an increasing rate in recent years due to sedentary living conditions.

Pharmacological treatment, neck collar, traction, manual therapy, interventional injection techniques, surgical treatment and conventional physical therapy methods such as hotpack, ultrasound, TENS (Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation), vacuum interference, exercise are applied in the treatment of neck pain.

In recent years, High Intensity Laser Therapy (HILT) has been used as a painless and non-invasive physical therapy agent. It received FDA approval in 2002 for HILT in the treatment of variety of musculoskeletal disorders.

There are a few studies in the literature investigating the efficacy of HILT in chronic neck pain. There is only one study investigating the efficacy of HILT in cervical disc herniation. In this study, the efficacy of HILT and ultrasound-TENS in the treatment of neck pain caused by cervical disc herniation has been compared, but the results of the exercise control group and long-term follow-up were not available.

The aim of this randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the short and long-term efficacy of HILT treatment using improvement in the pain, range of motion, activities of daily living and functionality of the cervical spine in patients with cervical disc herniation. In group 1, only exercises will be applied; in the group 2, HILT will be applied in addition to exercise; in the group 3, hotpack, TENS, ultrasound will be applied in addition to exercises.

Conditions

• Cervical Disc Herniation

Interventions

DEVICE

High Intensity Laser Therapy

For each 25 cm² of painful area, 1.02 minutes of treatment will give in the analgesic phase, with an energy of 8.0 watt, a dose of 5 Joules/ cm², a frequency of 25 Hertz(Hz) and a total energy of 125 joules. The application time for one session was approximately 15 minutes. Total 15 sessions will be applied to the neck area for a period of 3 weeks, 5 days a week.

DEVICE

Ultrasound

This treatment was applied to the cervical paravertebral region with a direct contact with the skin with the aid of an ultrasonic gel, at a dose of 1 megahertz(MHz) and 1.5 Watt/cm² for 4 minutes

DEVICE

Transcutaneous nerve stimulation (TENS)

TENS was performed using 4 adhesive electrodes 5 × 5 cm size in the cervical paravertebral region, 80 Hertz (Hz) frequency and 180 miliseconds current for 20 minutes.

OTHER

Exercise

A specific program consisted of 15 minutes exercise sessions was provided under the supervision of a physiotherapist . All patients will perform isometric strengthening exercises, active range of motion exercises, and cervical region stretching exercises for 15 sessions (during 3 weeks, on weekdays).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Baskent University Ankara Hospital

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-08-30

Primary Completion

2023-06-01

Completion

2023-08-01

Countries

• Turkey (Türkiye)

Study Locations