TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF LOW INTENSITY LASER THERAPY IN THE PAIN RELIEF OF THE CESARIAN INCISION: RANDOMIZED AND DOUBLE DUAL CLINICAL TEST
Postpartum Period. Phototherapy. Analgesia. Quality of life.
Background and Objective: Pain in the region of the cesarean incision is the main complaint of women in the immediate postpartum and considered post-cesarean morbidity for the mother and the baby, characterized as postoperative pain that presents difficult recovery. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) for pain relief in the region of the surgical incision of women undergoing cesarean section. Desing/Materials and Methods: A randomized, double-blind clinical trial with 74 women in the immediate postpartum randomized into for groups: control group (no LLLT, n = 20), placebo group (LLLT without radiation emission, n = 20), experimental group I (LLLT with dosage of 4J/cm2, n = 17) and experimental group II (LLLT with dosage of 2J/cm2, n = 17). The pain was recorded at three different times: 8-12 hours, 20-24 hours, and 44-48 hours after cesarean section. The evaluation with the Patient Global Impression of Change Scale (PGICS) occurred at the second and third moment of the evaluation of the pain. For the groups intervention, the LLLT with wavelengths of 660nm was performed in two sessions, at 8-12 hours and 20-24 hours after cesarean section. In the statistical analysis, data were analyzed using SPSS software 20.0 for Windows 23.0, giving a level of significance of <5%. The normality of the data of each group was evaluated by the Shapiro-Wilk test. Descriptive statistics were presented through measures of central tendency. One-way ANOVA and repeated measures ANOVA. The size of the effect was demonstrated by Cohen's d. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the groups in the third numerical evaluation of pain (p = 0.03) and algometry (p = 0.04). There was also a significant difference between the groups in the first PGICS evaluation (p = 0.04) and in the second evaluation (p = 0.04). Considering the numerical scale of pain, the effect size was 11% (placebo group), 43% (control group), 71% (experimental group I) and 68% (experimental group II). Conclusion: The use of LLLT appears to have promoted beneficial effects in the decrease the intensity pain in postpartum women after cesarean section.