Table 6. Overview of evidence of electrophysical modalities.
| Low-level laser therapy | ST | MT | Ultrasound | ST | MT | Magnetic field therapy | ST | MT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LLLT alone vs placebo | ± | Continuous US splint vs Pulsed US plus splint vs placebo plus splint | Ø | Pulsed magnetic field vs placebo | + | |||
| LLLT plus splint* vs placebo plus splint | + | Continuous US (1.5W/cm2 * vs 0.8W/cm2 dosage) vs placebo | + | Static magnetic field vs placebo | Ø | |||
| LLLT vs Pulsed Magnetic Field ° | Ø | Ø | Pulsed US plus splint vs MT plus splint vs pulsed US plus MT plus splint* | + | Static magnetic field (15mT vs 45mT dosage) vs placebo | Ø | ||
| LLLT* vs TENS | + | Pulsed US vs Cryo-US vs ESWT* | Ø | Ø | Static + pulsed magnetic field | Ø | ||
| LLLT vs Continuous ultrasound* | + | Pulsed US* vs LLLT | + | Polarised polychromatic non-coherent light | ||||
| LLLT plus splint vs Continuous US plus splint | Ø | Continuous US plus splint* vs splinting | + | PPNL (Bioptron) plus splint vs splinting | Ø | |||
| LLLT alone vs LLLT plus splint° | Ø | Extracorporeal short-wave therapy | Short-wave diathermy | |||||
| LLLT plus splint* vs splinting | + | Ø | ESWT plus splint* vs placebo plus splint | + | Ø | Continuous SWD vs Pulsed SWD vs placebo SWD | Ø | |
| LLLT vs Fascial Manipulation* | + | Ø | ESWT plus splint* vs splinting | + | Pulsed radiofrequency | |||
| LLLT* vs Nerve and Tendon gliding exercises | + | ESWT (2 dosages) vs placebo | + | + | Pulsed radiofrequency plus splint* vs splinting | + | + | |
| Interferential current | ||||||||
| Interferential current* vs TENS vs splint | + |
Abbreviations: ST, Short-term; MT, Mid-term; ±, Conflicting evidence; +, Limited evidence; *, Evidence favours this intervention; Ø, No difference; °, Not included in the meta-analysis.