Effects of low-power laser auriculotherapy on chronic spinal pain: Randomized clinical trial

Abstract

Aims and objectives: To evaluate the effect of laser auriculotherapy on chronic spinal pain. It is a randomized controlled clinical trial.

Methods: Volunteers with chronic spinal pain underwent three evaluations: an initial evaluation, a final evaluation immediately after the last intervention session, and a 15-day follow-up. Pain intensity, nociceptive threshold in relation to mechanical stimulus, and degree of pain (the greatest and least pain) in the last seven days were the assessed variables. The experimental group (EG, n = 24) underwent 10 sessions of laser auriculotherapy twice a week, while the control group (CG, n = 23) did not receive any intervention.

Results: The EG showed great clinical improvement in relation to the variable pain intensity between pre- and post-interventions (65.2%) and pre-intervention and follow-up (58.62%) compared to the CG. There was a significant increase in the nociceptive threshold for the EG. In contrast, the CG showed a significant reduction in the nociceptive threshold. The intergroup analysis indicated an improvement in pain intensity for the EG (0.006). This result remained at the follow-up (0.012). The nociceptive threshold increased over time for the EG (0.016). In contrast, the CG showed a reduction in this variable with a significant difference over time (<0.001).

Conclusion: The results of this clinical trial suggest that the proposed intervention may be effective in reducing pain intensity and increasing the nociceptive threshold. The effect of the intervention remained 15 days after the end of the treatment, when the volunteers were re-evaluated.

Keywords: Auricular acupuncture; Clinical trial registration: Brazilian registry of clinical trials; Complementary therapies; Gallium arsenide laser; Musculoskeletal pain; RBR-7cs387; Rehabilitation.