BACKGROUND:Acupuncture-like TENS (AL-TENS) has been shown to produce prolonged pain relief, but no study has yet investigated its duration on a population suffering from chronic low back pain (CLPB). OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to quantify the duration and magnitude of analgesia induced by a 15- or 30-minute application of AL-TENS. METHODOLOGY: We recruited a sample of 11 participants presenting with CLBP and conducted a randomized, crossover study, where participants were given AL-TENS for 15 and 30 minutes on two separate occasions. The pain intensity of their CLBP was assessed with a visual analogue scale before, during, and after AL-TENS applications. Magnitude and duration of analgesia were determined for each subject and for both AL-TENS application times. RESULTS: The AL-TENS applications induced a clinically and statistically significant (p = 0.003) analgesia in all participants. Median duration of analgesia was 9 hours and 10 hours 30 minutes following the 15- and 30-minute AL-TENS applications, respectively; this 1.5-hour difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.55). Furthermore, we observed no significant difference in the magnitude of analgesia between both applications of AL-TENS (p > 0.56), suggesting that the duration of application of AL-TENS does not influence the magnitude of analgesia. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that clinicians could use a 15-minute AL-TENS application to provide significant analgesia in patients presenting with low back pain since if provides a comparable analgesia versus a 30-minute application.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: Acupuncture-like TENS (AL-TENS) has been shown to produce prolonged pain relief, but no study has yet investigated its duration on a population suffering from chronic low back pain (CLPB). OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to quantify the duration and magnitude of analgesia induced by a 15- or 30-minute application of AL-TENS. METHODOLOGY: We recruited a sample of 11 participants presenting with CLBP and conducted a randomized, crossover study, where participants were given AL-TENS for 15 and 30 minutes on two separate occasions. The pain intensity of their CLBP was assessed with a visual analogue scale before, during, and after AL-TENS applications. Magnitude and duration of analgesia were determined for each subject and for both AL-TENS application times. RESULTS: The AL-TENS applications induced a clinically and statistically significant (p = 0.003) analgesia in all participants. Median duration of analgesia was 9 hours and 10 hours 30 minutes following the 15- and 30-minute AL-TENS applications, respectively; this 1.5-hour difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.55). Furthermore, we observed no significant difference in the magnitude of analgesia between both applications of AL-TENS (p > 0.56), suggesting that the duration of application of AL-TENS does not influence the magnitude of analgesia. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that clinicians could use a 15-minute AL-TENS application to provide significant analgesia in patients presenting with low back pain since if provides a comparable analgesia versus a 30-minute application.
Entities:
Keywords:
Analgesia; TENS; chronic low back pain; physiotherapy
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
Authors: Crystal C Lozier; Shannon M Nugent; Ning X Smith; Bobbi Jo Yarborough; Steven K Dobscha; Richard A Deyo; Benjamin J Morasco Journal: J Gen Intern Med Date: 2018-05 Impact factor: 5.128
Authors: Madeline Luiza Ferreira Pivovarsky; Fernanda Gaideski; Rafael Michel de Macedo; Raciele Ivandra Guarda Korelo; Luiz César Guarita-Souza; Richard Eloin Liebano; Ana Carolina Brandt de Macedo Journal: Einstein (Sao Paulo) Date: 2021-12-17