The improvement in asthma severity and pulmonary functions after laser acupuncture application in asthmatic children

Objective Asthma is a heterogeneous disease, usually characterized by chronic airway inflammation. Acupuncture is one of the complementary and alternative medicine modalities and is a key component of traditional Chinese medicine. Laser acupuncture is an interesting modality of low-level laser therapy, a noninvasive form of phototherapy. Patients and methods The present study is a randomized clinical trial conducted on 40 asthmatic children receiving conventional medical treatment divided randomly into two groups. Group A included 20 children who received a laser acupuncture session three times per week for 4 weeks and group B (control group) received conventional medical treatment only. Pulmonary functions were measured and the clinical condition of the patients was assessed before and after the study. Results Pulmonary functions at follow-up were higher in group A than in group B; the differences were statistically significant in vital capacity (VC) act, VC cent, best forced vital capacity (FVC) act, best FVC cent, and best forced expiratory volume in 1 s cent. The frequency of asthmatic attacks reduced in group A at follow-up. The clinical severity of children in group A improved significantly at follow-up. The clinical severity of the children in group B did not change significantly at follow-up. Conclusion Application of laser acupuncture sessions besides conventional medical treatment results in greater improvement in pulmonary functions and severity in asthmatic children.