Impact of TENS stimulation on acute postoperative pain after abdominal surgery—a pubmed review

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a technique in which pulsed low-voltage electrical currents are delivered through electrodes applied on the intact skin surface of the painful area of the body, by using a special device in order to stimulate peripheral nerves including those for pain relief. This method is used to manage acute and chronic pain, conditions of nociceptive or neuropathic origin. All clinical trials with TENS for postoperative acute pain were included. Case reports, reviews, protocols, letters to the editor, animal experimental research, guidelines, and ongoing or uncompleted trials were excluded. Two hundred fifty-two articles involving postoperative pain and transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation were identified by applying the aforementioned search strategy which resulted in including 18 articles in the analysis. The number of patients assessed for eligibility in each article varies from a maximum of 800 to a minimum of 3. In 88.89% of the articles the frequency of the TENS applied in the patients was mentioned. In half of the research performed in the selected articles pain was evaluated with the visual analogue scale. Immediate postoperative active mobilization of the patient is a key point of shortening the convalescence period and hospitalisation, the one individual in cause being able to attend work and social activities as soon as possible therefore being able to discover non-invasive, simple to use methods that reduce pain overall and the consumption of pharmaceutical analgesics is mandatory. The TENS technique is a non-invasive, safe, complementary technique used in order to reduce acute postoperative pain and improve pulmonary function, especially deep breathing, facilitating active movement and recovery of the patient and significant morbidity reduction.

TENS; Postoperative pain; Abdominal surgery

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