THE EFFICACY OF LOW-POWER LASER THERAPY IN ULCER HEALING IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETES MELLITUS: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

As it is an autoimmune disease caused by metabolic dysfunctions, diabetes mellitus (dm) results in hyperglycemia, due to reduced insulin secretion and/or production. patients with dm can develop several sequelae, one of which is diabetic neuropathy, which is characterized by the loss of sensitivity, which mainly affects the lower limbs. with the reduction of the pain protection mechanism, repeated trauma can occur, leading to the development of injuries and ulcerations. patients with dm will present poor wound healing, as an exacerbation occurs during the inflammation phase, in which these wounds end up becoming chronic and consequently an ulcer can be generated. therefore, this work aimed to analyze the effectiveness of low-power laser therapy in healing ulcers in diabetic patients. a bibliographical review was carried out, searching for data to carry out this article in electronic databases: google scholar, pubmed and vhl (lilacs and medline) in portuguese, including studies from 2015 to september 2023. among the articles researched and discussed, it was observed that low-power laser therapy presents positive results in the healing of ulcers, providing a better quality of life for the individual with the wound. however, there is a lack of studies demonstrating the use of this method; further studies are needed to apply lbp to ulcer healing in diabetic patients in order to elucidate its effectiveness and the best parameter to be applied.