Physiotherapeutic Reduction of Orofacial Pain Using Extremely Low-Frequency Electromagnetic Field and Light-Emitting Diode Therapy-A Pilot Study.

Pain research & management · 2022 · Benefit · Low evidence

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BenefitLow evidencePaper 5754

Patients receiving combined ELF EMF and LED physiotherapy had faster reduction of postoperative orofacial pain than controls receiving only analgesics. After 5 days of therapy, pain intensity was reduced by about 50% or resolved completely in all subjects.

Study snapshot

PublicationPain research & management · 2022

Study typerandomized_trial

Reported directionBenefit

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Pain is a natural response of the body to injury and one of the symptoms defining an inflammatory reaction. It is almost always present after orthognathic surgeries (OGS), but its severity is subjective in each patient. Postoperative care of the patient is aimed at minimizing of postoperative pain relief orofacial region. Options of physiotherapy include extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field (ELF EMF) and high-energy light-emitting diode (LED). . The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of physiotherapy combining ELF EMF and LED to reduce pain of the orofacial region in patients after OGS. . The study was conducted in thirty-two patients who underwent OGS to treat morphological defects. The participants were randomly divided into two groups: Physiotherapy group (PT) and Control group (CG). In both groups, patients were prescribed Paracetamol and nonsteroidal analgesics (NSAID-ibuprofen). Patients from the PT group additionally received postoperative physiotherapy immediately after leaving the surgical clinic in the form of ELF EMF and LED therapy. Physiotherapeutic treatments were performed for 10 days, three applications a day, at no cost to the patient. Pain intensity was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS), which is a reliable instrument for the measurement of pain intensity self-reported by the patient. RESULTS: Faster reduction of pain was the major observation made in patients who received physiotherapy treatments. In all subjects, after 5 days of therapy, the pain intensity was reduced by about 50% or resolved completely. Effects of therapy were measured with the relative changes in the pain intensity score, showing what fraction of the initial pain was eliminated at the first stage and throughout the whole therapy. The analysis of relative changes instead of absolute changes allowed us, among other things, to eliminate the bias of the higher initial pain intensity in the CG group compared to the PT group. CONCLUSIONS: The conducted research revealed that the combined use of ELF EMF and LED is beneficial in the reduction of pain of patients after OGS. The analgesic effects of physiotherapy in the treatment after OGS are necessary to continue research in this area and analyze the possibility of extending the indications for its use in other surgically treated maxillofacial diseases.

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AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typerandomized_trial

Effect directionbenefit

PopulationPatients after orthognathic surgeries (OGS) to treat morphological defects

Sample size32

ExposureELF · 10 days; three applications per day; started immediately after leaving the surgical clinic

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

Orofacial pain intensity (VAS)

Limitations

Pilot study
Higher initial pain intensity in the control group compared to the physiotherapy group (noted as a potential bias; authors used relative changes to address it)
No ELF EMF device parameters (e.g., frequency/field strength) reported in abstract
Combined intervention (ELF EMF + LED) prevents attributing effects to ELF EMF alone

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "randomized_trial",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "ELF",
    "source": "therapeutic device (physiotherapy)",
    "frequency_mhz": null,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": "10 days; three applications per day; started immediately after leaving the surgical clinic"
  },
  "population": "Patients after orthognathic surgeries (OGS) to treat morphological defects",
  "sample_size": 32,
  "outcomes": [
    "Orofacial pain intensity (VAS)"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Patients receiving combined ELF EMF and LED physiotherapy had faster reduction of postoperative orofacial pain than controls receiving only analgesics. After 5 days of therapy, pain intensity was reduced by about 50% or resolved completely in all subjects.",
  "effect_direction": "benefit",
  "limitations": [
    "Pilot study",
    "Higher initial pain intensity in the control group compared to the physiotherapy group (noted as a potential bias; authors used relative changes to address it)",
    "No ELF EMF device parameters (e.g., frequency/field strength) reported in abstract",
    "Combined intervention (ELF EMF + LED) prevents attributing effects to ELF EMF alone"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field",
    "ELF EMF",
    "light-emitting diode",
    "LED therapy",
    "physiotherapy",
    "orofacial pain",
    "postoperative pain",
    "orthognathic surgery",
    "VAS"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": []
}

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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1155/2022/3115154
PubMed: 35178136

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