Background: Wounds have a variety of types. Impairment of healing is a common adverse event of wounds. The degree of tissue injury caused by burn wounds and ulcers can lead to further pain and disability. Polarized light therapy (PLT) has the ability to penetrate the skin up to 5 cm deep, reaching deeper tissues that are necessary for wound healing.
Objective: This article aimed to systematically review the reported randomized control trials (RCTs) as regards PLT effects in treatment of wounds.
Methods: An electronic search was conducted in Cochrane library, Physiotherapy evidence database (PEDro) and PubMed database. The research comprised RCTs published at the period from 2019 to 2023 only on PLT effects in treatment of wounds of burned and ulcerated patients. In addition, 2 independent reviewers extracted data from the comprised researches and evaluated its methodological quality by utilizing PEDro scale.
Results: Eight studies matched the inclusion criteria. They provided limited to strong level to support the efficiency of PLT based on modified Sackett's scale. Meta-analysis was done for four included studies only and showed a significant difference between the PLT and control groups and revealed significant decrease in ulcer surface area (USA) in PLT group. As a result, it revealed significant effect of PLT on ulcer healing.
Conclusion: This systematic review revealed limited to strong evidence. It supported the effectiveness of PLT in treatment of wounds (ulcers, burns and wounds).