Aplicación de rayo láser frente a implantación de catgut en pacientes diabéticos con obesidad

Objective

To compare the effect of laser beam application versus catgut implantation in reducing glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and body mass index in obese diabetic patients.

Design

We conducted a clinical, comparative, longitudinal, prospective, and quantitative study.

Location

clinic of the National School of Medicine and Homeopathy of the National Polytechnic Institute in Mexico City.

Participants

The initial assessment was conducted with 73 patients, resulting in a sample size of 40 patients (20 per group) with a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity grades I and II, males and females between 35 and 65 years of age, non-insulin dependent and with no clinical complication of their main comorbidity in the period from September 2019 to February 2020.

Main measurements

We performed simple random sampling to form two groups: group 1 laser, and group 2 catgut. Three elements were sampled (glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides) for blood chemistry, and weight and height were measured for body mass index. Then acupoint treatment was applied in the formula: Yishu (ext), Pishu (V 20), Shenshu (V 23), and Zusanli (E 36) per group for 3 months, and weight and height were measured when the final blood sample was taken.

Results

Various statistical tests were performed. No significant differences (p > .05) were found between group 1 laser and 2 catgut in any of the parametric Student's t-tests. In intra-group tests, at baseline and at the end of treatment there were significant differences only in HbA1c values in the overall group.

Conclusion

The overall objective was to compare the effect of laser beam application versus catgut implantation to decrease 3 variables, of which there was a significant difference only in the HbA1c of group 2, thus fulfilling the null hypothesis.