The effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on post-thoracotomy pain

PubMedID: 26986188Background: Pain guidelines suggest transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) as a reliable analgesic method in postoperative pain. Objectives: This study was conducted as a randomized controlled study to determine the effect of TENS on postoperative pain and analgesic consumption in patients who have undergone posterolateral thoracotomy (PLT). Design: The study was conducted in the Thoracic Surgery Clinic of a university hospital with 40 patients (test group: 20, control group: 20) and its power was 99%. While, test group patients were administered TENS, the control group patients were not. The pain assessment and analgesic consumption in both groups were recorded. Results: The pain levels and analgesic consumption of the test group were lower than that of the control group (p < .05). Conclusions: TENS reduced PLT pain and analgesic consumption. Thus, TENS can be recommended as an easy and reliable analgesic method in PLT. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.71146310, 2013-AC-CE-16 711463102013-AC-CE-16Necessary legal permission to conduct the study was obtained from the Hacettepe University of Clinical Studies Ethics Board (number: 01-37, date: 25.01.13), the Turkish Drug and Medical Device Institution under the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Turkey (71146310[2013-AC-CE-16] and the Office of the Head Doctor at the hospital in which the study was conducted (711463102013-AC-CE-16). Patients in the intervention and control groups were informed about the study and informed consent was received