Low-level laser therapy: an experimental design for wound management: a case-controlled study in rabbit model.

Background: There is a wide array of articles in medical literature for and against the laser effect on wound healing but without discrete effect determination or conclusion. This experimental study aims to evaluate the efficacy of low-level laser therapy on wound healing. Materials and Methods: Thirty-four rabbits were randomly enrolled in two groups after creating a full thickness of 3 × 3 cm wound. The intervention group received low density laser exposure (4 J/cm 2 ) on days 0, 3 and 6 with diode helium-neon low-intensity laser device (wl = 808 nm) and in control group moist wound dressing applied. Finally, wound-healing process was evaluated by both gross and pathological assessment. Results: Fibrin formation was the same in the two groups ( P = 0.4) but epithelialisation was much more in laser group ( P = 0.02). Wound inflammation of the laser group was smaller than that of the control groups but statistical significance was not shown ( P = 0.09). Although more smooth muscle actin was found in the wounds of the laser group but it was not statistically significant ( P = 0.3). Wound diameter showed significant decrease in wound area in laser group ( P = 0.003). Conclusion: According to our study, it seems that low-level laser therapy accelerates wound healing at least in some phases of healing process. So, we can conclude that our study also shows some hopes for low level laser therapy effect on wound healing at least in animal model.