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Low-level laser therapy improves pain in postcesarean section: a randomized clinical trial

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Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) on immediate postpartum pain relief during cesarean section. A randomized, parallel controlled trial was carried out. In total, 88 women with immediate postpartum were divided into 4 groups: control group (n = 22), placebo group (n = 22), experimental group I (n = 22, dose of 4 J/cm2), and experimental group II (n = 22, dose of 2 J/cm2). The pain measured by Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), algometry, and Global Change Perception Scale (GCPS) was assessed at 12, 20–24, and 44–48 h postpartum. Two LLLT sessions were performed at 12 and 24 h postpartum. A significant interaction was observed between time versus group for NRS F (2.40) = 36.80, p < 0.001 and algometry F (1.70) = 27.18, p < 0.001. GCPS revealed a significant difference between the groups during second (p = 0.04) and third evaluation (p = 0.04). The NRS and algometry presented a large effect size for the experimental groups. LLLT is an efficient method to reduce pain and enhance the GCP in postcesarean section. No significant clinical differences were found between the laser doses.

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Funding

This study was financed in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior–Brasil (CAPES)–Finance Code 001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Science Center, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil

    Alane Macatrao Pires de Holanda Araujo & Maria Thereza Albuquerque Barbosa Cabral Micussi

  2. Faculdade Estácio, Natal, RN, Brazil

    Kassio Rafael Rocha de Sena

  3. Faculty of Health Science of Trairí, Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Santa Cruz, RN, Brazil

    Edson Meneses da Silva Filho & Rodrigo Pegado

  4. Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Santa Cruz, RN, 59200-000, Brazil

    Edson Meneses da Silva Filho

Authors
  1. Alane Macatrao Pires de Holanda Araujo
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  2. Kassio Rafael Rocha de Sena
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  3. Edson Meneses da Silva Filho
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  4. Rodrigo Pegado
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  5. Maria Thereza Albuquerque Barbosa Cabral Micussi
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Contributions

AMPHA: conceptualization, planning, data collection, and writing of the manuscript. KRRS: data collection and planning. EMSF: writing of the manuscript, supporting data analysis, and proofreading. RP: conceptualization, planning, data analysis, and writing of the manuscript. MTABCM: conceptualization, planning, data analysis, and writing of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Edson Meneses da Silva Filho.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee (include name of committee + reference number) and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This study was approved by the local institutional ethics committee from Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (number: 1.998.386). The study was registered in the REBEC platform (Identifier: RBR-6B8HCC).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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de Holanda Araujo, A.M.P., de Sena, K.R.R., da Silva Filho, E.M. et al. Low-level laser therapy improves pain in postcesarean section: a randomized clinical trial. Lasers Med Sci 35, 1095–1102 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-019-02893-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10103-019-02893-3

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