title: Long-term effects of pulsed high-intensity laser therapy in the treatment of post-burn pruritus: a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study.
abstract: We assessed the long-term effects of pulsed high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) in post-burn pruritus treatment. A total of 49 adult burn patients with mean age of 31.53 ± 10.14 years participated, with 24 patients randomly assigned to the active laser group (ALG) and 25 in the placebo laser group (PLG). The ALG received HILT three times per week for 6 weeks, while the PLG received placebo HILT. Both groups received 10-mg cetirizine tablets twice daily and 10 mg at bedtime. All patients were advised to massage their burn scars with coconut oil for 5 min four times daily. The outcomes measured were the itch severity scale (ISS), impairment of pruritus-related quality of life (QoL), pain level by the visual analog scale (VAS), hand grip strength by handheld dynamometer, and daily cetirizine intake. Repeated-measures ANOVA was used to compare the baseline and post-treatment measurements and after 12 weeks of follow-up. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. ISS decreased significantly in the ALG after 6 weeks of treatment and after 12 weeks of follow-up compared with the PLG. The QoL results showed a significant improvement in the ALG compared with the PLG, which continued after 12 weeks. VAS results significantly decrease, hand grip strength significantly improved, and cetirizine intake significantly decreased post-treatment in the ALG relative to the PLG. HILT combined with cetirizine seems more effective in patients with post-burn pruritus than a placebo laser procedure with cetirizine.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt. anwar.ebid@cu.edu.eg.
authors.forename: Anwar Abdelgayed
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ebid
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Science, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Abeer Ramadan
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ibrahim
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mohammed Taher
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Omar
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Amal Mohamed Abd
authors.initials: AMA
authors.lastname: El Baky
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications*; D017332:Cetirizine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D053685:Laser Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010919:Placebos; D011537:Pruritus / Q000209:etiology* / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011788:Quality of Life; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D064232:Visual Analog Scale
chemical_list: D010919:Placebos; D017332:Cetirizine
keywords: Antihistamine; HILT; ISS; Pain; Post-burn pruritus; QoL