Effect of Light-Emitting Diode Irradiation on Chronic Nonhealed Wound After Below-Knee Amputation.

Chronic nonhealed wound after below-knee amputation is a serious problem that is faced by the health care team; therefore, there is a need to find an adjuvant therapy to address this problem. The aim of the study is to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of light-emitting diode (LED) irradiation on chronic nonhealed wound after below-knee amputation using a digitalized method of evaluation by Adobe Photoshop CS5 aided by magnetic lasso tool. Thirty patients with chronic nonhealed wound (>/=4 weeks) after below-knee amputation were randomly divided into 2 equal groups, with 15 participants in each. Group A received the LED irradiation for 24 sessions (3 sessions per week) in addition to the standard medical treatment, and the second experimental group (group B) received the standard medical treatment for 8 weeks. Methods of evaluation included the wound surface area: for tracing the wound perimeter using a computerized software. Results showed that both LED irradiation therapy and standard medical treatment were effective in healing the chronic nonhealed wound, but the LED was more effective than standard medical treatment alone. A clear improvement in the results of wound healing surface area was found in group A, with an improvement percentage of 50.63%, when compared with group B, which used the standard medical treatment alone, with an improvement percentage of 43.96%.