Low Level Laser Therapy in the Treatment of Pressure Ulcers in Spinal Cord Handicapped Veterans Living in Tehran

Pressure ulcers result from imm obil ity and continuous pressureon an area of body. besides imposing furth er restrictionof movements and thus creating a vi cious circle in the healingprocess, these ulcers are of signifi cant importance in decreasingthe life quality and increa sing the costs of treatment inthese patients. in thi s study we compared the outcome oftreatment of pressure ulcers with ga-al- a s (gallium- aluminium-arsenide) & gal-al-in-ph (gallium- a luminiumindium- phosphate) - diode lasers, on contact, continuousemission mode at an every oth er day dose of 4-6 j/cm2 for 3weeks plus conventional treatments of pressure ulcers, withthat of convention al treatment alone in two groups of veteranswith spinal cord paralysi s who reside in tehran. t he studywas a triple blind clinical trial conducted among 16 veteranswho were randomly divided into case and control groups.the diameter of the ulcer s was measured and staged byone person who was unaware of the subj ects' allocation. digitalphotographs of the ulcers were initially taken and a combinationof conventional treatment (wet dressing, irrigation) with lowlevel laser and conventional treatment alone was perform edfor the case and control groups respectively. after 3 weeks thesubj ects were evaluated again and photographed with the samemethod. the results demonstrated a statisticall y signifi cant enhancementof the healing process by combination of low levellaser with conventional treatments of pressure ulcers.