[Evaluation of low intensity Nd: YAG laser and traditional drugs in the treatment of myofascial pain].

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of low intensity Nd YAG laser and traditional drugs in the treatment of myofascial pain (MP). METHODS: Eighty patients with MP were divided into laser group(n=40) and traditional medicine group(n=40) according to the principle of randomization and double-blindness. The patients in the laser group were treated with low intensity NdYAG laser(1 064 nm, 8 J/cm2, 250 mW) , with an interval of 48 h between the two laser treatments. The whole course of treatment was 10 times. Patients in the traditional medicine group uesd celecoxib capsules, 1 capsulet each time(0.2 g), twice a day for 2 weeks. Before and after each treatment, mouth opening, protrusion excursion, lateral movement of the affected side and lateral movement of the contralateral side were measured, and pain visual analogue scores (VAS) were measured and recorded. The data were statistically analyzed with SPSS 22.0 software package. RESULTS: Patients in laser group had significantly improved mandibular function and movement status(P＜0.05) and pain symptoms(P＜0.05); patients in traditional medicine group had the same significant improvement on mandibular functional movement status(P＜0.05) and pain symptoms (P＜0.05). The total effective rate of the two groups had no significant difference(P＞0.05). The VAS score of patients in laser group was lower than that of traditional medicine group, but the difference was not significant(P＞0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Low intensity Nd YAG laser and traditional medicine can effectively relieve the symptoms of myofascial pain and improve mandibular function and movement. Laser treatment has the advantages of short course of treatment, high efficiency, no pain and fewer side effects, which is worthy of clinical application.