Therapeutic Effect of a Low-Level Laser on Acute Pain and Post-operative Mouth Opening After Closed Reduction of Mandibular-Condylar Fracture: Low-Level Laser Therapy in patients with closed reduction of mandibular-condylar fractur

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine the therapeutic effect of low-level laser therapy on acute pain and the range of mouth opening after condylar closed-reduction surgery. The use of low-level lasers, especially to reduce inflammation and pain, has received more attention in recent years. The results of many studies performed in this field are contradictory, and the effectiveness of low-level lasers in the treatment of patients is still uncertain. Materials and Methods: This study was performed as a randomized, double-blinded clinical trial on 40 patients with condylar closed reduction surgery. Patients were randomly divided into two groups of 20 patients, including the placebo and intervention groups, in which the recent group received active low-level laser (100 mw, 2J/cm2, 20S/point, 14 extraoral points,7 days). The range of jaw movements after opening the intermaxillary-fixation was measured. Patients’ pain was measured using the visual analog scale (VAS). Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 21, the Chi-square test, and repeated measures ANOVA. Results: There was no significant difference between the study groups in terms of the range of jaw motion. Our results showed that at the end of the study, the mean pain score by VAS was 56.85 (SD = 1.387) in the intervention group and 60.95 (SD = 4.861) in the placebo group (P = 0.007). Conclusion: The results of this study indicated the effectiveness of low-level lasers in reducing acute pain in patients undergoing closed condylar surgery. Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT20200520047519N1