{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T20:36:51Z","timestamp":1792787811648,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]],"date-time":"2026-06-30T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782777600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"funder":[{"name":"Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting","award":["Project number (PNURSP2026R168)"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Project number (PNURSP2026R168)"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05b0cyh02","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Photobiomodulation, Photomedicine, and Laser Surgery"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Lumbar disc herniation (LDH) is a prevalent major cause of low back pain and radicular syndromes in the lower extremities. Elevated disc herniation volumes and the subsequent progression of spinal canal compromise are positively correlated with higher severity of radicular symptoms, functional disability, and neurological deficits.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To investigate the impact of high-intensity laser therapy (HILT) on disc size and functional outcomes in patients with LDH.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study enrolled 40 patients of both sexes (40% male and 60% female), ages from 30 to 45 years, all presenting with lumbosacral radiculopathy secondary to L4\u2013L5 or L5\u2013S1 disc herniation. Participants were randomly assigned to two equal groups. Group A (study group) received HILT group treated with a combined standard physical therapy exercise program, while Group B (control group) underwent a sham HILT procedure alongside the same physical therapy exercise program. Interventions were conducted three times a week over 6 weeks. The primary outcome was the change in disc herniation size in anteroposterior, transverse, and posterior vertical diameter as measured by magnetic resonance imaging. The secondary outcomes included pain intensity assessed by the visual analogue scale (VAS) and functional disability assessed by the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The HILT group demonstrated statistically significant reductions in all disc size parameters compared to the control group (\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &lt; 0.05). Additionally, the HILT group showed significantly higher reduction in VAS scores (63.88% vs. 26.04%) and ODI scores (53.5% vs. 24.58%) compared with the control group (\n                      <jats:italic toggle=\"yes\">p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &lt; 0.001).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion:<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>HILT serves as a potent noninvasive modality for reducing the herniated lumbar discs size and providing significant pain relief and improving functional outcomes in individuals with lumbosacral radiculopathy.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1177\/25785478261465275","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,1]],"date-time":"2026-07-01T03:06:30Z","timestamp":1782875190000},"page":"505-512","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Effect of High-Intensity Laser Therapy on Disc Size and Functional Outcome in Patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"44","author":[{"given":"Wessam Abd Al-Fatah","family":"Mohammed","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Therapy for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nahed Ahmed","family":"Salem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Therapy for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ahmed Mohamed","family":"Mohasseb","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Orthopedic and Spine Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Egypt."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hoda M.","family":"Zakaria","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Therapy for Neurology, Faculty for Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6309-3484","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zizi M.","family":"Ibrahim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ashraf A.","family":"Darwesh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physical Therapy for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt."}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,30]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_3_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13018-025-06024-3"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.22603\/ssrr.2022-0042"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s00586-025-08912-y"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_5_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bas.2025.105619"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_6_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"5.Penberthy WT Vorwaller CE. The importance of power in photobiomodulation a systematic review and meta-analysis of high intensity laser therapy. 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VAS and NRS, same or different? Are visual analog scale values and numerical rating scale equally viable tools for assessing patients after microdiscectomy? 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