Opiates are often used for post-operative pain relief but have undesirable side effects. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) was evaluated in a prospective, randomized, controlled trial of 95 patients undergoing either elective colorectal procedures or cholecystectomy. The TENS system included two sterile electrodes placed adjacent to the wound edge, the control group having had non functioning batteries placed. Premedication aned operative technique were similar, and analgesia was administered on request by nurses unaware of the randomization. Following colorectal procedures, there was a significant reduction in the 3 day total opiate dose/kg: 1.32 +/- 0.37 mg/kg in the TENS group compared with 1.64 +/- 0.51 mg/kg in the control group (p < 0.05). After cholecystectomy, there was a reduction in the 3 day total opiate dose/kg: 0.47 +/- 0.46 in the TENS group compared with 0.74 +/- 0.54 mg/kg in the control group. However, this was not statistically significant (p < 0.07) despite the fact that 4 patients in the TENS group required no opiates at all. There was a significant reduction in total hospital stay of cholecystectomy patients: 5.4 +/- 2.0 days in the TENS group compared with 6.6 +/- 1.6 days in the control group (p < 0.05). These data suggest that TENS was effective in reducing both postoperative opiate requirements and hospital stay in this group of patients.

There are no links to full text for this record.