Laser acupuncture in treatment of childhood bronchial asthma

Laser acupuncture is widely used as an alternative treatment for chronic illnesses.

to evaluate the effect of biostimulation by low-level power laser on the traditional Chinese acupuncture points for Egyptian asthmatic children.

Thirty asthmatic boys and 20 asthmatic girls 7-18 years (10.6±2.8) were randomly selected from the outpatient chest clinic of Ain Shams University, Children hospitals, and National Research Center outpatient Clinic of Acupuncture, from April 2009 to March 2010. Patients' symptoms, medications, asthma control questionnaire (ACQ), and spirometric values were recorded before and 1 month after completion of 10 laser acupuncture sessions. Each patient received 10 laser sessions (3 sessions/week) on traditional Chinese acupoints.

Started with 36 patients suffering daytime and nocturnal symptoms, ended with two patients suffering nocturnal symptoms (p < 0.001). Also, 48 patients reported better exercise tolerance (p < 0.001). Forced expiratory volume in the first second, forced vital capacity, and peak expiratory flow % increased from 81.8±25.2, 85.4±21.5, and 71.8±22.9 to 98.5±28.1, 104.3±26.2, and 84.3±24.1, respectively (p < 0.001). ACQ improved from 13.9±3.8 to 23.3±3.6 (p < 0.001), 92% of patients became well controlled. Inhaled steroids dose decreased from 200-450 to 0-200 μg/day and all patients stopped short acting B2 agonist (SABA) rescue (p < 0.01, 0.001).

low-intensity laser acupuncture can be safe and effective treatment in asthmatic children.