BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Pain may result in incapacity when it is associated to structural injury. Low power laser is useful in therapies aiming at decreasing joint pain and at tissue repair, but it is still somewhat controversial. This study aimed at evaluating whether analgesia induced by 820 nm low power laser is affected by the application of an endogenous opioids inhibitor. METHOD: Twenty-four Wistar rats submitted to hyperalgesia were divided into four groups. G1: untreated; G2: treated with 820 nm laser; G3: naloxone injection before injury and untreated; G4: naloxone and treated with 820 nm laser. To induce hyperalgesia, 100 µL of 5% formalin were injected in the right tibiofemoral joint space. Nociception was evaluated by the time for flinching (TFF) in five moments: AV1 (pre-injury), AV2 (15 min/after), AV3 (30 min/after), AV4 (1 hour after) and AV5 (2 hours after). RESULTS: All groups showed significant difference between AV1 and AV2, but only G2 showed no difference between AV1 and AV3. There have been no differences for remaining moments as compared to AV1. CONCLUSION: Low power 820 nm laser analgesia is affected by naloxone.
Analgesia; Laser beams; Naloxone; Rats
