title: Low-energy helium-neon laser irradiation and the tensile strength of incisional wounds in the rat.
abstract: Low-level laser energy has been reported to modulate the wound healing process in some but not all studies. To examine this hypothesis, we investigated incisional wounds made on the dorsal pelt of rats for changes in the healing produced by low-level irradiation with a helium-neon laser. The incisions were made with a scalpel and closed with sutures. The rats were irradiated daily for 12 days with four levels of laser light (0.0, 0.47, 0.93, and 1.73 J/cm(2)). Analysis of wound tensile strength indicated a possible strengthening of fresh wounds at the highest levels of irradiation (1.73 J/cm(2)). No change was observed in the tensile strength of formalin-fixed wounds. The distribution of measured tensile strengths did not follow normal statistics; instead they showed a platykurtic distribution. Using resampling statistics, where no assumption is made as to the nature of the distribution, we found that the results were contrary to other studies: no biostimulatory effect was seen.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Research Service, Nashville, TN 37232, USA.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Broadley
authors.forename: K N
authors.initials: KN
authors.lastname: Broadley
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Disimone
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Riensch
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Davidson