A large number of patients with osteoarthrosis (OA), are referred to physiotherapy out-patient departments; the knee is a common and painful site for this condition (Huskisson and Dudley-Hart, 1978). Most patients have been prescribed analgesia or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents (NSAI) for their pain, but the value of these drugs in OA has been questioned (Taylor and Ghosh, 1981). Some of the physiotherapy treatments currently in use for OA of the knee are quadriceps exercises, and heat or cold therapy. These therapies have not been rigorously evaluated and, where pain relief is achieved by physical methods, it is rarely sustained (Care et al, 1981). There is therefore a need for a means of controlling chronic arthritic pain and a non-invasive technique such as transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TNS) might be preferable to large amounts of analgesia, especially if pain relief can be sustained. TNS reduces pain by closing the 'gate' to pain (Melzack, 1975) and stimulating the release of endogenous opiates (endorphins) into specific areas of the central nervous system (Sjolund et al, 1977; Pomeranz, 1978). The clinical efficacy of TNS in severe chronic pain (Thorsteinsson et al, 1978; Fox and Melzack, 1976) suggests that it could be an effective method of controlling chronic arthritic pain (Melzack et al, 1977). This paper describes a randomised, controlled, single blind trial carried out to test the hypothesis that TNS would diminish the severity of knee pain due to OA.

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