Photobiomodulation therapy has a negligible effect as an adjunct to motor control exercise in people with chronic non-specific low back pain: a randomised trial.

Authors

Shaiane Silva Tomazoni, Marcelo Ferreira Duarte de Oliveira, Jociane Schardong, Rodrigo Della Méa Plentz, Heliodora Leão Casalechi, Ighor Luiz Azevedo Teixeira, Andrey Jorge Serra, Ernesto Cesar Pinto Leal-Junior, Jan Magnus Bjordal

Published in

Journal of physiotherapy. Oct 12, 2026. Epub Oct 12, 2026.

Abstract

In adults with chronic non-specific low back pain, does adding photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT) to a program of motor control exercise (MCE) improve pain intensity, disability and circulating prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) concentrations compared with sham PBMT plus MCE?
A randomised controlled trial was conducted with concealed allocation, intention-to-treat analysis and blinding of participants, therapists and assessors.
Adults aged 18 to 65 years seeking treatment for chronic non-specific low back pain of ≥ 3 months in duration.
Participants were randomly allocated to active PBMT plus MCE or sham PBMT plus MCE. Both groups received 12 treatment sessions over 6 weeks.
Assessments were completed at baseline and 6 weeks, with follow-up assessments at 1 month after the end of the intervention period and at 3, 6 and 12 months after randomisation. Primary outcomes were pain intensity (0 to 10 numerical rating scale) and disability (0 to 24 Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire) at 6 weeks, in which higher scores indicated greater severity. Secondary outcomes were: pain and disability at follow-up timepoints; circulating PGE₂ concentrations at 6 weeks; and medication use, concomitant care and adverse events throughout the follow-up period.
A total of 148 participants were randomised (74 per group). The intention-to-treat analysis showed that PBMT plus MCE had a negligible effect compared with sham plus MCE at 6 weeks for pain intensity (MD -0.4 points, 95% CI -1.2 to 0.4), disability (MD -0.7 points, 95% CI -2.4 to 0.9) or circulating PGE₂ concentrations (MD 31 pg/ml, 95% CI -4 to 66). Negligible between-group differences were observed throughout the 12-month follow-up period, and no treatment-related adverse events occurred.
Adding PBMT to MCE did not provide clinically important additional improvements in pain intensity, disability or circulating PGE₂ concentrations compared with sham plus the same exercise program.
NCT05487118.

PMID:
42864195
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 13 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.