BACKGROUND: A review of the literature found no clinical studies in which low level laser therapy (LLLT) and high voltage pulsed current (HVPC) were compared to evaluate their effectiveness in promoting wound healing. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was compare the effects of LLLT, HVPC and standard wound care (SWC) on the healing of diabetic foot ulcers. METHODS: Randomized controlled clinical trial where diabetic patients were divided in control group (CG) treated with SWC; HVPC group received HVPC+SWC; LLLT group, treated with LLLT+SWC. HVPC was applied 45 min, 100 pps and 100 micro-s. LLLTparameters were 685 nm, 30 mW, 2 J/cm2 applied to the wound edges and 1.5 J/cm2 in the wound bed. All subjects were treated 16 weeks or until the wound closed. The variables were healing, healing proportion, ulcers's characteristics, protective sensation, nerve conduction studies (NCS) and quality life. ANCOVA analysis and a Fisher's exact test were applied. RESULTS: Twenty-eight subjects completed the protocol. The healing was reached by 7/9, 8/10 and 6/9 participants of the LLLT, HVPC and CG respectively in the 16th week. There were no statistically significant differences between the groups in the healing proportion, NCS, sensory testing or quality of life (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study did not demonstrated additional effects of LLL or HVPC to the standard wound care (SWC) on healing of diabetic ulcers.

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