Episiotomies (EP) and perineal lacerations (PL) following vaginal delivery can lead to complications such as pain, edema, and infection. Currently, anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics, baths, and ice packs are recommended for treatment. Photobiomodulation therapy (PBM) has emerged as a promising technology for pain management and scar healing in EP and PL. This is a cohort observational study conducted at the Maternal and Child University Hospital of the Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, Paraná, Brazil. PBM adjuvant therapy is routinely applied at the bedside daily throughout the postpartum hospitalization. PBM is routinely offered to all postpartum patients during hospitalization. Patients may choose to accept or decline the use of analgesic PBM in addition to the standard therapeutic measures provided by the hospital (anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics, baths, and ice packs). All patients who underwent EP or suffered grade 2 and 3 PL over six months are evaluated. We will analyze the data from patients who accepted the use of PBM and those who declined the use of PBM regarding the presence of pain, local healing of perineal lacerations, and episiotomies. The primary outcome is the daily pain assessment using the Numerical Pain Scale (NPS) before and after PBM (hospital standard). The secondary outcome is the evaluation of perineal healing using the REEDA scale. Initially, data distribution will be tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Comparisons of NPS and REEDA scores between groups that received laser therapy and those that did not received will be performed using repeated-measures ANOVA, considering study covariates. Epidemiological and clinical data (age, sex, marital conditions, type and characteristics of labour (spontaneous or induced), newborn weight, presence of clinical complications during hospitalization ) collected directly in the patients' medical records to characterize the sample. All analyses will be conducted using SPSS 24.0 software, with a significance level of 95%.
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Cutaneous pain
Timeframe: before and after each PBM session during the 3 days of hospitalization