• Dillan Cunha Amaral, Sávio Batista, Edson Dos Santos-Neto, MansoJosé Eduardo FerreiraJEFFaculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil., Márcio Penha Morterá Rodrigues, MonteiroMário Luiz RibeiroMLRDivision of Ophthalmology and the Laboratory for Investigation in Ophthalmology (LIM-33), Faculty of Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil., Milton Ruiz Alves, and Ricardo Noguera Louzada.
• Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
• Clinics (Sao Paulo). 2024 Jan 1; 79: 100375100375.

IntroductionLow-Level Red-Light (LLRL) Therapy is a safe and natural way to promote healing and reduce inflammation in the body. When it comes to treating myopia in children, LLRL therapy is recent, and its efficacy and safety still are not clear.MethodsA systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature for LLRL was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines on November 5, 2022. Databases, including PUBMED, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Embase were queried. A meta-analysis of random effects was conducted. Inclusion criteria included Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) or observational studies where LLRL therapy was used in children (3‒15 years old) with myopia. Exclusion criteria were studies with other ocular abnormalities. Efficacy was evaluated through the mean change in Axial Length (AL) and cycloplegic Spherical Equivalent Error (SER), while safety was evaluated by monitoring adverse effects.ResultsA total of 5 final studies were included (4 RCTs, and 1 observational), in which 685 total patients were analyzed. The mean age was 9.7 ± 0.66 years, with 48,2% female patients. The number of eyes in the LRLL arm is 714 and, in the control, arm is 656. LLRL showed better results in SER and AL mean change (OR = 0.58; 95% CI 0.33 to 0.83; p < 0.00001, and MD -0.33; 95% CI -0.52 to -0.13; p = 0.001, respectively), in comparison to the control group. There was no significant difference in adverse effects between groups (MD = 5.76; 95% CI 0.66 to 50.14; p = 0.11).ConclusionLLRL therapy is a non-invasive, effective, and safe short-term treatment option; however, long-term evaluation, particularly in comparison to other therapies, requires additional investigation.Copyright © 2024 HCFMUSP. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

17 keywords...

hide…