Pedro Esteban González1, Nuria M Novoa2, Gonzalo Varela2. 1. Servicio de Cirugía Torácica, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Salamanca, Salamanca, España. Electronic address: peg@usal.es. 2. Servicio de Cirugía Torácica, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Salamanca, Salamanca, España.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The patient's position during an axillary thoracotomy can cause postoperative pain and decrease mobility of the ipsilateral shoulder. In this study, we assessed whether the implementation of a standardized analgesia program using transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) decreases local pain and improves ipsilateral shoulder mobility. METHOD: Randomized, single-blind, single-center clinical trial of 50 patients who had undergone anatomical lung resection via axillary muscle-sparing thoracotomy. Patients were treated with TENS devices for 30 minutes every 8 hours, beginning on postoperative day 1. Pain and mobility of the affected limb were recorded at the same time on postoperative days 1 through 3. A visual analogue scale was used for pain assessment and shoulder mobility was assessed with a goniometer. Results were compared using a non-parametric test. RESULTS:Twenty-five patients were randomized to each group. Mean age of the control group was 62.7±9.3 years and 63.4±10.2 years in the experimental group. Shoulder mobility parameters were similar in both groups on all postoperative days. However, pain during flexion significantly decreased on day 2 (P=.03) and day 3 (P=.04) in the experimental group. CONCLUSION: The use of TENS decreases pain from shoulder flexion in patients undergoing axillary thoracotomy for pulmonary resection.
RCT Entities:
OBJECTIVES: The patient's position during an axillary thoracotomy can cause postoperative pain and decrease mobility of the ipsilateral shoulder. In this study, we assessed whether the implementation of a standardized analgesia program using transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) decreases local pain and improves ipsilateral shoulder mobility. METHOD: Randomized, single-blind, single-center clinical trial of 50 patients who had undergone anatomical lung resection via axillary muscle-sparing thoracotomy. Patients were treated with TENS devices for 30 minutes every 8 hours, beginning on postoperative day 1. Pain and mobility of the affected limb were recorded at the same time on postoperative days 1 through 3. A visual analogue scale was used for pain assessment and shoulder mobility was assessed with a goniometer. Results were compared using a non-parametric test. RESULTS: Twenty-five patients were randomized to each group. Mean age of the control group was 62.7±9.3 years and 63.4±10.2 years in the experimental group. Shoulder mobility parameters were similar in both groups on all postoperative days. However, pain during flexion significantly decreased on day 2 (P=.03) and day 3 (P=.04) in the experimental group. CONCLUSION: The use of TENS decreases pain from shoulder flexion in patients undergoing axillary thoracotomy for pulmonary resection.
Keywords:
Dolor de hombro; Estimulación eléctrica nerviosa transcutánea; Muscle-sparing thoracotomy; Post-thoracotomy shoulder pain; Rango de movilidad del hombro; Shoulder range of motion; Toracotomía lateral sin sección muscular; Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation
Authors: Mark I Johnson; Carole A Paley; Priscilla G Wittkopf; Matthew R Mulvey; Gareth Jones Journal: Medicina (Kaunas) Date: 2022-06-14 Impact factor: 2.948