The effectiveness of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and interferential currents on pain intensity in people with knee osteoarthritis

Uvod: Artroza je s starostjo povezana bolezen, ki vpliva na sinovialne sklepe. Glavna simptoma sta bolečina in jutranja okorelost. Transkutana električna živčna stimulacija (TENS) in interferenčni tokovi so primarno uporabljeni za zmanjšanje bolečine. Namen pregleda literature je bil ugotoviti učinkovitost TENS in interferenčnih tokov pri obravnavi bolečine zaradi artroze kolena. Metode: Pregled randomiziranih kontroliranih raziskav v bazah CINAHL, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, ProQuest, PubMed in Wiley Online Library. Rezultati: Najdene so bile štiri randomizirane kontrolirane raziskave: tri so preverjale učinkovitost TENS, ena pa učinkovitost različnih frekvenc interferenčnih tokov pri artrozi kolena. Primerjava raziskav učinkovitosti TENS in interferenčnih tokov je pokazala primerljive učinke na jakost bolečine pri artrozi kolena, bolečina se je zmanjšala v vseh preiskovanih skupinah. Med stimuliranimi skupinami je prišlo do manjših razlik v odstotkih zmanjšanja jakosti bolečine kot med stimuliranimi in placebo skupinami. V primerjavi s placebom so se analgetični učinki v aktivnih skupinah v večji meri prenesli v obdobje po obravnavi. Zaključki: Treba bi bilo izvesti randomizirane kontrolirane raziskave z obsežnejšimi vzorci preiskovancev in poenotenimi protokoli, učinke pa spremljati daljše obdobje po obravnavi.Introduction: Osteoarthritis is an age-related disease affecting synovial joints. Its main symptoms are pain and morning stiffness. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and interferential currents are primarily used to treat pain. The purpose of literature review was to find the effectiveness of TENS and interferential currents in knee osteoarthritis pain. Methods: Literature review of randomized controlled trials using databases CINAHL, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, ProQuest, PubMed and Wiley Online Library. Results: Four randomized controlled trials have been found. Three have examined TENS effectiveness, one has compared the effectiveness of different amplitude-modulated frequencies of interferential currents in knee osteoarthritis. Studies on TENS and interferential currents effectiveness have shown comparable effects on pain intensity in knee osteoarthritis, all trial groups resulting in reduced pain. Among stimulated groups a lesser difference in percentage of pain decrease has been observed than with stimulated and placebo groups. However, analgesic effects in active groups had longer carryover effects when compared to sham groups. Conclusions: Randomized controlled trials with higher number of study participants and unified protocols should be made. Carry-over effects of interventions should be observed for a longer period of time after treatment