Laser Acupuncture Therapy in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Temporomandibular Disorders.
Author: Hu WL1, Chang CH2, Hung YC3, Tseng YJ4, Hung IL4, Hsu SF5.
Affiliation:
1Department of Chinese Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Kaohsiung Medical University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Fooyin University College of Nursing, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. 2Fooyin University College of Nursing, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Division of Chinese Medicine, Kaohsiung Municipal Chinese Medical Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. 3Department of Chinese Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan; School of Chinese Medicine for Post Baccalaureate, I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. 4Department of Chinese Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. 5Graduate Institute of Acupuncture Science, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan; Department of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taipei Branch, Taipei, Taiwan.
Conference/Journal: PLoS One
Date published: 2014 Oct 17
Other:
Volume ID: 9 , Issue ID: 10 , Pages: e110528 , Special Notes: doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0110528 , Word Count: 205
Abstract
OBJECTIVE:
To investigate the clinical effects of laser acupuncture therapy for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) after ineffective previous treatments.
METHODS:
A retrospective observational study was conducted in 29 treatment-resistant TMD patients (25 women, 4 men; age range, 17-67 years). Subjects were treated 3 times per week for 4 weeks with the Handylaser Trion (GaAlAs laser diode, 810 nm, 150 mW, pulsed waves), which delivered 0.375 J of energy (5 s) to ST7, ST6, and LI4 and 3 J (40 s) to each Ashi point, 7.5-26.25 J/cm2 in total. The visual analog scale (VAS) and maximal mouth opening (MMO) were evaluated before and after treatment.
RESULTS:
VAS analysis showed that the patients were free of pain at rest (endpoint) after 5.90±6.08 sessions of laser acupuncture for acute TMD and after 16.21±17.98 sessions for chronic TMD. The VAS score on palpation of the temporomandibular joint reduced to 0.30±0.67 for patients with acute TMD (p = 0.005) and to 0.47±0.84 for those with chronic TMD (p<0.001). The MMO significantly increased in patients with acute TMD (7.80±5.43 mm, p = 0.008) and in patients with chronic TMD (15.58±7.87 mm, p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS:
Our study shows that laser acupuncture therapy improves the symptoms of treatment-resistant TMD. Further studies with a more appropriate design, involving long-term follow-up examinations in a larger patient sample, are needed to evaluate its efficacy.
PMID: 25329855
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