OBJECTIVE: the aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the efficacy of electro-analgesia after knee arthroplasty surgery. METHODS: the literature search involved multiple databases. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included and pain assessment or analgesic consumption were considered as outcomes. Risk of Bias analysis, me-ta-analysis and GRADE method was applied. RESULTS: 11 articles were selected for quantitative data analysis. In the meta-analyses for VAS on first and third day after surgery, the mean difference was lower in the intervention group by 0.5 (CI -1.03 to 0.03) and 0.66 (CI -1.2 to -0.11) points with a significance equal to 0.07 and 0.02 respectively but with high heterogeneity. On the fifth day the difference disappeared (mean difference -0.02; CI -0.75 to 0.71; p = 0.96). CONCLUSIONS: There is no evidence to support the effectiveness of electro-analgesia treatment following knee replacement surgery. A low certainty of evidence showed a limited effect of this treatment modality.

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