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Laser therapy of rheumatoid arthritis
Author(s) -
Goldman John A.,
Chiapella Joseph,
Bass Noah,
Graham Jimmy,
McClatchey William,
Dronavalli R. V.,
Brown Richard,
Bennett William J.,
Miller Stephen B.,
Wilson Colon H.,
Haun Cosmo,
Persinski Lydia,
Huey Herb,
Muckerheide Mike,
Casey Helen,
Pearson Bobbie
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
lasers in surgery and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1096-9101
pISSN - 0196-8092
DOI - 10.1002/lsm.1900010110
Subject(s) - medicine , erythema , rheumatoid arthritis , interphalangeal joint , laser , surgery , dermatology , laser therapy , wrist , finger joint , optics , physics
Thirty people with classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis received laser exposure to a Q‐switch neodymium laser that operated at 1.06 μm with an output of 1 5 joules/cm 2 for 30 nsec. One hand was lased at the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) and metacarpal phalangeal (MCP) joints, whereas the other hand was sham lased. The patient, physician, and occupational therapy evaluators did not know which hand was being lased. Twenty‐one patients noted improvement of both their MCP and PIP joints of both hands during laser therapy. Twenty‐seven noted improvement of their PIP joints and 26 noted improvement of the MCP joints during therapy. Heat, erythema, pain, swelling, and tenderness all improved with time in both hands, but the lased hand had more significant improvement in erythema and pain. There was also significant improvement in grasp and tip pressure on the lased side. The level of circulating immune complexes as measured by platelet aggregation decreased during lasing. The improvement may be related to laser exposure. The exact role that laser radiation has upon rheumatoid arthritis and its mechanism of action remain to be elucidated.