Effectiveness of Laser Therapy for Treatment of Herpes Labialis: A Systematic Review

Objective: This systematic review aimed to determine the effectiveness of laser therapy as a treatment for herpes labialis. This review seeks to answer our research question: What is the effectiveness of laser therapy compared to Acyclovir for treating patients with HSV-1? We consider it important to find new alternatives to treating HSV-1 with the most minor adverse effects, so this question has been posed. Methods: The Cochrane, Lilacs, Ovid, Embase, Google Scholar, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Open Gray databases were searched for literature and gray literature. Clinical trials were retrieved and manually checked for inclusion. We carried out data extraction and the evaluation of the methodological quality of the included articles. An assessment of the certainty of the evidence was also performed. Results: The mean healing time in the placebo and acyclovir groups was longer, with healing in the laser therapy groups being faster. Otherwise, one study reported that individuals under acyclovir presented a higher recurrence risk than those submitted to laser therapy. One study reported a significantly smaller lesion size in the laser therapy group than in the acyclovir group. The certainty of the evidence was very low for the outcomes. No side effects have been reported with laser therapy. Conclusions: Laser therapy reported better results in the disappearance of symptoms and signs than conventional treatment. Although, we should cautiously interpret the findings due to the certainty of the evidence being very low for the outcomes.