Supervised exercise with or without laser-guided feedback for people with non-specific chronic low back pain. A randomized controlled clinical trial

Background: Among the most effective therapeutic interventions in non-specific chronic low back pain (NSCLBP),
clinical practice guidelines highlight exercise therapy and patient education; However, regarding the combined
intervention of exercise and Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE), there is no consensus on the most effective form
of exercise.
Objetive: To find out what changes occurred after the application of two exercise modalities [Supervised Exercise
(SE) and Laser-Guided Exercise (LGE)] and PNE on pain, pain pressure thresholds, disability, catastrophizing,
kinesiophobia and lumbar proprioception in subjects with NSCLBP.
Methods: Single-blind randomized clinical controlled trial. 60 subjects with NSCLBP. Both groups performed a a
total of 16 therapeutic exercise sessions and 8 Pain Neuroscience Education sessions. With the Laser-Guided
Exercise Therapy group performing laser-guided exercises.
Results: A significant decrease was observed for pain intensity for both groups between baseline and postintervention
and the 3 month follow-up (p < 0.001). There was a significant between-group difference between
baseline and post-intervention scores in terms of pain intensity and kinesiophobia in favour of the LGE
group.
Conclusion: Supervised exercise with or without laser feedback, when combined with PNE, reduces pain intensity,
disability, pain catastrophizing, kinesiophobia and improves proprioception and PPTs in patients with NSCLBP.
At a 3-month follow-up, the combination of LGE plus PNE is most effective for reducing pain intensity.