Effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on pain intensity in reduced consciousness patients: A randomized clinical trial

Background & Aim: Pain is the main stressful factor in patients hospitalized in intensive care units(ICU). Non-pharmacological methods for pain relief are preferred by ICU patients due to lack of considerable side effects. The present research aims to determine the effect of TENS on pain intensity followed by surgery in patients hospitalized in intensive care units. Setting of the study was Besat Hospital in Hamadan, Iran. In this cross over clinical trial, thirty five patients hospitalized in intensive care unit with level of consciousness 9-12 based on Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), assigned randomly to active/placebo TENS(18 patients) or placebo/active TENS (17 patients) sequence. Methods & Materials : Patients received each intervention for two hours by a random order. A card was allocated to each patient on which the order of interventions was written. In placebo TENS, the system was off and no electrical simulation was applied. Active TENS was applied by conventional TENS with frequency of 80 Hz within 330 milliseconds that is a subset of high TENS. Pain intensity were measured and recorded using Behavioural Pain Scale (PBS)before and 6 hours after intervention. Statistical analysis used: Data were analysed using SPSS 19 and independent t-test, chi square and Wilcoxon tests. Results : Mean scores of pain intensity before and after active TENS was significantly different in both intervention order (P= 0.001). Mean scores of pain intensity after placebo TENS was not significantly different in both groups. None of patients suffered from side effects after using TENS. Conclusion : Based on results, application of active TENS reduced significantly pain intensity in patients after surgery. Concerning the simplicity of using this method and lack of considerable side effects, it is suggested to be used as pain relief in similar situations.