Is There Any Difference Between High-Intensity Laser and Low-Level Laser in the Treatment of Tennis Elbow? A Meta-analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Zhang M, Zhao Z, Wu Z, Li F
American journal of physical medicine & rehabilitation · 0 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Meta-analysis (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Funding not disclosed
Publication
- Published
- 2025-08-08 · Am J Phys Med Rehabil · vol. 105 · issue 2 · pp. 134–142
- Publisher
- Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
- Cited
- 1 citation · more than 41% of similar papers · 0.2× the field average
- References
- 24 works
- Access
- Paywalled
- Research areas
- Laser Applications in Dentistry and Medicine · Shoulder Injury and Treatment · Tendon Structure and Treatment
- Keywords
- Medicine, Low level laser therapy, Grip strength, Meta-analysis, Randomized controlled trial, Placebo, Elbow, Physical therapy, Tennis elbow, Rehabilitation, Laser therapy, Bandage, Physical medicine and rehabilitation, Laser, Surgery, Internal medicine, Alternative medicine
- MeSH
- humans, tennis elbow, hand strength, treatment outcome, randomized controlled trials as topic, laser therapy, low-level light therapy
4 authors
From CN, US
- Minhui ZhangNanjing Normal University
- Zhengyang ZhaoNational Natural Science Foundation of China; U.S. National Science Foundation; Nanjing Normal University
- Zhijian WuNational Natural Science Foundation of China; U.S. National Science Foundation; Nanjing Normal University
- Fanghui Li · correspondingNational Natural Science Foundation of China; U.S. National Science Foundation; Nanjing Normal University
Abstract
Objective
The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of laser therapy (high-intensity vs. low-level) in treating tennis elbow.
Design
PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science were systematically searched for randomized controlled trials up to February 2025. Cochrane risk-of-bias tool was used for quality assessment. Data were analyzed via RevMan 5.4.
Result
Twelve randomized controlled trials were included. Laser therapy demonstrates significant improvements in pain, grip strength, and functional outcomes for tennis elbow patients. Subgroup analysis reveals that both high-intensity laser therapy ( P = 0.01) and low-level laser therapy ( P < 0.00001) effectively reduce pain versus baseline with comparable efficacy, although high-intensity laser therapy shows nonsignificant improvement versus placebo ( P = 0.07). Regarding functional improvement, high-intensity laser therapy is similar to low-level laser therapy (both significant, P < 0.05). For grip strength, both modalities show significant improvement ( P < 0.05), with high-intensity laser therapy exhibiting superior effects. Further analysis of combination therapies showed that laser combined with bandage demonstrates more significant pain relief and functional improvement.
Conclusions
High-intensity laser therapy and low-level laser therapy are both effective modalities for improving symptoms of tennis elbow (pain, function, and grip strength). Low-level laser therapy demonstrates more consistent significance in pain relief, while high-intensity laser therapy shows greater advantages in enhancing grip strength. More importantly, laser therapy combined with bandage produces synergistic effects, highlighting its value as a key complementary component within multimodal rehabilitation programs.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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