The following is a summary of “Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) versus sham TENS in adult ED patients with abdominal pain: A clinical trial,” published in the February 2024 issue of Emergency Medicine by McMahon, et al.

With increasing concerns regarding the risks associated with current pharmacologic analgesics, exploring alternative modalities for acute and chronic pain management is imperative. For a study, researchers sought to assess the efficacy of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) in adult emergency department (ED) patients presenting with abdominal pain.

They conducted a randomized controlled trial with patient and observer blinding, comparing TENS to sham TENS in a large suburban academic ED. Participants with abdominal pain and a verbal numeric pain scale (VNS) score of 5 or higher were randomly assigned to receive either TENS or sham TENS applied via four skin pads, one in each abdominal quadrant, for 30 minutes. The primary outcome measure was the change in pain scores 30 minutes post-intervention. The study was designed with 80% power to detect a between-group difference of 1.5 points on the VNS.

A total of 81 patients were randomized, with 41 receiving TENS and 40 receiving sham TENS. Baseline characteristics were comparable between the groups. The mean (SD) reductions in pain scores were 1.9 (2.1) for TENS and 1.7 (2.6) for sham TENS (P = 0.81). There was no significant difference in the use of rescue medications between the TENS and sham TENS groups (49% vs. 55%, respectively; P = 0.66).

The application of TENS to the abdominal wall did not demonstrate superior pain relief compared to sham TENS in adult ED patients with abdominal pain.

Reference: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0735675723005752