Efficacy of Low Level Laser Therapy on The Post Midline laparotomy Wound Pain in upper and lower Gastrointestinal (GI) Surgical Procedure : a randomized clinical trial

Introduction Painkiller drugs play an important role in reducing pain after surgery. These drugs might have unavoidable side effects and by the identification of new side effects, the needs for non-drug agents have been increased gradually. Therefore we decided to investigate the effect of low-power laser therapy on pain control after surgery. Materials and Methods In this study, 106 patients as candidate for elective gastrointestinal tract surgery after exclusion 6 case were divided into two groups with 50 patients after being randomized. The intervention group and control group underwent low level laser therapy and placebo by daily manner respectively after surgery. Then both groups were evaluated and compared in terms of pain intensity and amount of pethidine consumption. Results There was no significant difference between two groups in terms of average age, sexual frequency and perioperative inflammatory factors and skin complications. The average pain intensity at 0, 24, 48, 72, 96 hours after surgery was 7.2, 5.3, 4.2, 3.66, 2.44 for the intervention group and it was 7.14, 6.3, 5.3, 4.3, 2.7 for the control group respectively. Also, the average use of pethidine was evaluated in 24-hour intervals until the fourth day, which was 53, 29, 10, 5.5 mg for the intervention group and 54, 37.5, 22.5, 8.5 mg for the control group respectively. At the first 24 hours and 96 hours after the operation, difference of pain intensity and pethidine consumption between the two groups was not significant, but in period 24-96 hours after surgery, the pain intensity and also the average pethidine consumption significantly decreased in the intervention group compared to the control group. Conclusion The findings of this study showed that the low level laser therapy can be used to control the pain and can be proposed as an alternative method to painkillers drugs.