Os agentes eletrofísicos funcionam para o tratamento da celulite? uma revisão sistemática

Abstract

Cellulite is a change in the topography of the skin and is located especially in regionswith accumulation of adipose tissue, such as hips, buttocks, thighs and abdomen. Surprisingly, contrary to what we might think, the etiology and pathophysiology ofcellulite are far from being a consensus or a well-established issue. The lack ofknowledge of the real etiology of the cellulytic process directly interferes with the choiceof appropriate treatments and thus several treatment methods have been tested. However, do the studies that address these different treatment techniques have strongenough methodological quality to conclude whether these treatments are effective ornot to combat cellulite? In this work, we performed a systematic review of clinicalstudies that used electrophysical agents for the treatment of cellulite. Methods The acronym PICO (population, intervention, comparison/control and outcome) was usedto develop the search strategy and inclusion/exclusion criteria. Four databases suchas Medline, Central, Lilacs and PEDro were searched for studies involving thetreatment of cellulite with electrophysical agents from 2001 to July 2021. To maintain Isystematization and guide the selection of studies, we followed the guidelines from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PRISMA). The methodology of the included studies wvas evaluated using the QualSyst tool. Results:32 studies were included in this review, only 2 (6.2%) were evaluated with strong andgood methodology using the QualSyst tool Conclusions. Taken together, our results demonstrate that the quality of evidence obtained in clinical studies on the use ofelectrophysical agents for treatment is still poor. Additional studies employing anadequate experimental methodology and more precise evaluation techniques areneeded. The present study does not deny the effectiveness of the techniques used forthe treatment of cellulite, but the need for additional, better-designed studies is clear.