RESEARCH ARTICLE
Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) for Neck Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression
Anita R Gross*, 1, Stephanie Dziengo3, Olga Boers3, Charlie H Goldsmith2, Nadine Graham1, Lothar Lilge4, Stephen Burnie3, Roger White5
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2013Volume: 7
Issue: Suppl 4
First Page: 396
Last Page: 419
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-7-396
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001307010396
Article History:
Received Date: 10/9/2012Revision Received Date: 21/10/2012
Acceptance Date: 26/10/2012
Electronic publication date: 20/9/2013
Collection year: 2013

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/) which permits unrestrictive use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Purpose:
This systematic review update evaluated low level laser therapy (LLLT) for adults with neck pain.
Methods:
Computerized searches (root up to Feb 2012) included pain, function/disability, quality of life (QoL) and global perceived effect (GPE). GRADE, effect-sizes, heterogeneity and meta-regression were assessed.
Results:
Of 17 trials, 10 demonstrated high risk of bias. For chronic neck pain, there was moderate quality evidence (2 trials, 109 participants) supporting LLLT over placebo to improve pain/disability/QoL/GPE up to intermediate-term (IT). For acute radiculopathy, cervical osteoarthritis or acute neck pain, low quality evidence suggested LLLT improves ST pain/function/QoL over a placebo. For chronic myofascial neck pain (5 trials, 188 participants), evidence was conflicting; a meta-regression of heterogeneous trials suggests super-pulsed LLLT increases the chance of a successful pain outcome.
Conclusions:
We found diverse evidence using LLLT for neck pain. LLLT may be beneficial for chronic neck pain/function/QoL. Larger long-term dosage trials are needed.