STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, randomized and controlled study. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of low-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (LF-TENS) in the treatment of neuropathic pain in patients with spinal cord injury (SCI). METHODS: A total of 33 SCI patients with neuropathic pain were included in the study. History, duration, localization and characteristics of pain were recorded. Visual analog scale (VAS) was used to investigate the effect of LF-TENS four times during the day. Patients were randomly assigned to study and control groups. The study group was treated with 30 min of LF-TENS daily for 10 days while the placebo group with 30 min of sham TENS. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 36.55 +/- 10.36 years. Out of 33 patients, 7 were tetraplegic and 26 were paraplegic. Twenty-three patients had complete SCI while 10 patients had incomplete injuries. Two groups were similar with respect to age, gender, duration, level and severity of injury. In the LF-TENS treatment group, a statistically significant reduction of the VAS values was observed, however, such an effect was not evident in the control group. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that in treatment of neuropathic pain of SCI patients, LF-TENS may be effective. PERSPECTIVE: This article presents LF-TENS may effectively complement pharmacological treatment in patients with SCI and neuropathic pain.
Reprinted by permission from Spinal Cord, Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

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