Intravenous laser therapy

Intravenous laser therapy, IVL (Intravenous laser blood irradiation, ILIB) is a form of low energy laser treatment that was introduced by Russian researchers during the 1980’s in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. It is stated that positive treatment effects can be seen in many different conditions, such as allergies, pain disorders, depression, burnout, and Lyme Disease. In Sweden, intravenous laser therapy is not used in routine health care but provided at a holistic rehabilitation centre and paid for by the patients themselves.

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SBU Enquiry Service

Responds to queries received from Swedish healthcare and social service providers, or governmental organisations. Queries have a limited scope and the process is designed to enable a more rapid response, typically within two to three months. Reports are based on systematic reviews, that are identified through structured searches and critically appraised for risk of bias.

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Published: Report no: ut201912 Registration no: SBU 2019/108

Question

Is there scientific evidence for the effect of intravenous laser therapy in the treatment of different medical conditions?

References

  1. Boudin F, Nie JY, Bartlett JC, Grad R, Pluye P, Dawes M. Combining classifiers for robust PICO element detection. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2010;10:29.
  2. Zhang PY, Jian-Min S, Xiang-Yang Z, Xia-Ming S. Clinical and experimental study of low energy helium-neon intravascular laser irradiation of blood in chronic schizophrenia. Hong Kong Journal of Psychiatry 1998;8:43-46.
  3. Chiran DA, Litscher G, Weber M, Ailioaie LM, Ailioaie C, Litscher D. Intravenous laser blood irradiation increases efficacy of etanercept in selected subtypes of juvenile idiopathic arthritis: An innovative clinical research approach. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2013;2013.
  4. Momenzadeh S, Akhyani V, Razaghi Z, Ebadifar A, Abbasi M. Evaluation of the Effects of Intravenous and Percutaneous Low Level Laser Therapy in the Management of Shoulder Myofascial Pain Syndrome. J Lasers Med Sci 2016;7:16-20

Literature search

Literature search.pdf

Project group

Laura Lintamo, Sara Fundell and Miriam Entesarian Matsson at SBU.

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