Angélica Rodrigues de Araújo

LED Phototherapy Improves Healing of Nipple Trauma: A Pilot Study

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of a LED phototherapy prototype apparatus in the healing of nipple trauma in breastfeeding women. BACKGROUND DATA There is no scientific evidence of an effective treatment for nipple trauma. METHODS The experimental group was treated with orientation on nipple care and adequate breastfeeding techniques in addition to active LED phototherapy. The control group was treated with orientation on nipple care and adequate breastfeeding techniques in addition to placebo LED phototherapy. Participants were treated twice a week, for a total of eight sessions. Healing of the nipple lesions was measured by a reduction in their area, and decrease in pain intensity was measured in accordance with an 11-point Pain Intensity Numerical Rating Scale and a standard 7-point patient global impression of change. RESULTS Statistically significant reductions in measured nipple lesion area (p<0.001) were observed for both the experimental and control groups with an increase in the number of treatment sessions. A significant difference between the experimental and control groups was observed for the healing of nipple lesions (p<0.001). The pain intensity was significantly reduced only in the experimental group (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS Preliminary results demonstrated the prototype apparatus for LED phototherapy to be an effective tool in accelerating the healing of nipple trauma.

Dispositivo fotobiomodulador para prevenção e tratamento de hiperqueratose de teto em vacas leiteiras

Mastitis consistis one of the main problems of milk production, mainly due to the production losses and the rising cost of milk. In case of severe hyperkeratosis, the teat canal can become an easier barrier for the bacteria to penetrate. The objeSctive of this study was to assess a phototherapy device construct with LED light for prevention and treatment of teat hyperkeratosis in a dairy cattle herd with high prevalence (35.3% of severe cases). 60 primiparous cows were used in the preventive experiment and 30 cows with hyperkeratosis were used in the therapeutic experiment. In both experiments, half of the cows started to be treated in early lactation using the phototherapy device three times per week for 6 weeks. The other cows were the controls. Hyperkeratosis was assessed by scoring and by morphometric analyses of teat images that were taken at baseline and then weekly for 6 consecutive weeks. In the preventive experiment, more images were taken later, between 6 and 7 months of the first lactation. Somatic cell counts (SCC) were performed monthly. In the preventive experiment, the outer diameter of the teat lesions remained constant in the treated group, whereas cows of the control group showed a significant increase at the end of lactation. In the therapeutic groups, no statistical differences for teat hyperkeratosis variables were seen between groups. However, the incidence of subclinical mastitis (SCC > 250 cells/mL) during lactation was lower in the treated group (P<0.05). In conclusion the phototherapy protocol did not prevent the development in primiparous or ameliorate previous hyperkeratosis lesions in cows. However, the prototype was considered useful as an adjunct in preventing the increase in the size of teat hyperkeratosis lesions and also as a way to reduce subclinical mastitis incidence in affected dairy cows.

O ultrassom é efetivo no tratamento da tendinite calcárea do ombro

Introducao: A tendinite calcaria do ombro e uma calcificacao caracterizada pela deposicao de sais de calcio nos tendoes do manguito rotador, provocando dor no ombro e perda de amplitude de movimento (ADM). O ultrassom e sugerido como alternativa promissora para facilitar a reabsorcao dos depositos de calcio. Os mecanismos que fundamentam esse efeito sao, entretanto, ainda controversos na literatura, e a utilizacao clinica do ultrassom na tendinite calcaria tem sido baseada mais em evidencias empiricas do que cientificas. Objetivos: Realizar uma revisao bibliografica sobre os efeitos biologicos e terapeuticos do ultrassom, a fim de identificar o real papel desse recurso no tratamento da tendinite calcaria do ombro. Materiais e metodos: Para sua elaboracao, foi feita uma busca bibliografica em bases de dados eletronicas e uma pesquisa manual. Resultados: Dentre os estudos selecionados, dois demonstraram reducao da dor e do tamanho da calcificacao e dois nao apresentaram resultados positivos. Discussao: Os beneficios promovidos pelo ultrassom sao dependentes dos parâmetros utilizados. Variaveis como o tamanho da area a ser tratada, diferencas teciduais, duracao da aplicacao e o objetivo da conduta terapeutica tambem devem ser considerados. Conclusao: Com base nesta revisao, pode-se afirmar que o ultrassom terapeutico e um recurso efetivo no tratamento da tendinite calcaria do ombro.