NCT06536751

Therapeutic Photobiomodulation and Tretament of Spasticity

Photobiomodulation in the Treatment of Spasticity in Children With Cerebral Palsy. A Controlled, Randomized, Blind Study

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: Phase 2 / Phase 3
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 28 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Nove de Julho · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 2 Years – 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Cerebral palsy is a non-progressive, permanent syndrome that occurs in childhood and is accompanied by motor, tônus and posture disorders. Its etiology is related to an insult or damage to the central nervous system in maturation. Approximately 80% of cerebral palsy course with spasticity, which, when left untreated, will generate pain and functional, anatomical and structural changes, with a negative impact. Photobiomodulation therapy has biological effects of tissue regeneration, muscle relaxation, vasodilation, reduction of the inflammatory process and relief of pain symptoms already described in the literature, in addition to being feasible, practical, safe, without side effects, painless and non-invasive.This study is a blind, randomized and controlled clinical trial that will evaluate the effect of photobiomodulation in reducing gastrocnemius muscle spasticity in children aged 2 to 18 years, diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy of lower limbs of any etiology for at least 03 months and randomized into two groups: application of Low Intensity LED Therapy in the medial and right lateral gastrocnemius muscles (device power of 100mW, wavelength of 850nm, energy of 3J/cm2/point, once a week, making 08 therapeutic days during 02 months) or placebo group Low-Intensity LED Therapy (same device turned off). Both groups will also receive the standard treatment for spasticity. To assess the response to therapy, the outcomes evaluated will be the modified Ashworth Scale, the Mobility Domain of Pediatric evaluation of disability inventory, the Gross Motor Function Classification System scale and passive and active range of motion of the ankle analyzed at the pré and post each therapeutic session and in the pre and post therapeutic period of 08 sessions.

Detailed description

Cerebral palsy is a non-progressive, permanent syndrome that occurs in childhood and is accompanied by motor, tonus and posture disorders. Its etiology is related to an insult or damage to the central nervous system in maturation, during the prenatal, perinatal or postnatal period, when the central nervous system has not yet fully developed. Approximately 80% of cerebral palsy course with spasticity, which, when left untreated, will generate pain and functional, anatomical and structural changes in bones, joints, muscles, tendons and nerve junctions, with a negative impact on quality of life, social participation and functionality of this individual. In parallel, photobiomodulation therapy has biological effects of tissue regeneration, muscle relaxation, vasodilation, reduction of the inflammatory process and relief of pain symptoms already described in the literature, in addition to being feasible, practical, safe, without side effects, painless and non-invasive.Objectives and methods: this study is a pilot, double-blind, randomized and controlled clinical trial that will evaluate the effect of photobiomodulation in reducing gastrocnemius muscle spasticity in 28 children aged 2 to 18 years, diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy of right lower limb of any etiology for at least 03 months, selected at the Physiotherapy Service of Universidade Nove de Julho and randomized into two groups: application of Low Intensity LED Therapy in the medial and right lateral gastrocnemius muscles (device power of 100mW, wavelength of 850nm, energy of 1.5 J/point, applied in 02 points per muscle, for 15 seconds, frequency of once a week, making 8 therapeutic days) or placebo group Low-Intensity LED Therapy (same device turned off). Patients with fixed anatomical deformity of the ankle with less than 90 degrees of dorsiflexion amplitude, malnutrition, severe gastroesophageal reflux disease and another type of associated movement disorder will be excluded. Both groups will also receive the standard treatment for spasticity performed by the hospital's rehabilitation health team. To assess the response to therapy, the outcomes evaluated will be the modified Ashworth Scale (MAS), the Mobility Domain of Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory for children (PEDI), the Gross Motor Function Classification System scale (GMFCS) and passive range of motion (ROM) of the ankle analyzed at the end of each therapeutic session and in the pre therapeutic period of 08 weeeks. Epidemiological data will be collected from the medical records of participants in the physiotherapy for characterizing the sample (age, gender,etiology of brain injury and type of paralysis, injury time, medications, comorbidities, previous surgeries, length of physiotherapy treatment at the start of the study, description of the physiotherapy treatment in use, use of a walking aid or orthosis. Data will be statistically analyzed and positive or negative results reported and discussed.

Conditions

• Muscle Spasticity
• Cerebral Palsy
• Photobiomodulation
• Low-Level Laser Therapy

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
RADIATION	Photobiomodulation	LED photobiomodulation therapy, once a week, for 08 consecutive weeks in the same day of the institution's standard physiotherapy session that the patient already uses regularly (not linked to the study). PBM will be transcutaneously, punctual application of the LED in the medial and lateral gastrocnemius muscles of the right lower limb, in contact mode, 3J/cm2, with a 850nm wavelenght.
OTHER	Institution's Standard Physiotherapy	Physiotherapy treatment on the University, occur 2 therapeutic days per week, for 08 consecutive weeks (one of them in the same day of the PBM session). It consists of the use of motor physiotherapy, posture guidelines, stretching, positioning, joint range gain, ergonomics, sensory stimulation and proprioception, motor strengthening, tonus adjustment, functional training of upper and lower limbs, guidelines for the use of orthoses, stands, parapodium, parallel bars or wheelchair when needed. These are 45-minute sessions conducted by a physiotherapist.
RADIATION	Photobiomodulation Placebo	The same procedures of PBM group but device will be turned off

Timeline

• Start date: 2023-08-15
• Primary completion: 2025-12-01
• Completion: 2026-02-20
• First posted: 2024-08-05
• Last updated: 2025-06-11

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: Brazil