The Efficacy of Short-term Treatment with Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation for Osteo-arthritic Knee Pain

Abstract

This report examines the efficacy of transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) for the treatment of osteo-arthritis of the knee from the available data base. In particular, attention is given to the nature of the TENS parameters used and the quality of the reported studies. The results show that as a whole, active TENS can provide more pain relief in knee osteo-arthritis than its placebo, irrespective of the TENS parameters used. There is however, a powerful placebo response to TENS treatments in this group of patients. There are also many deficiencies in the design of the reported studies. More well-controlled studies are thus recommended to establish whether the expense involved in the acquisition of a TENS unit and its application is justified for patients with painful knee osteo-arthritis. This report examines the efficacy of transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) for the treatment of osteo-arthritis of the knee from the available data base. In particular, attention is given to the nature of the TENS parameters used and the quality of the reported studies. The results show that as a whole, active TENS can provide more pain relief in knee osteo-arthritis than its placebo, irrespective of the TENS parameters used. There is however, a powerful placebo response to TENS treatments in this group of patients. There are also many deficiencies in the design of the reported studies. More well-controlled studies are thus recommended to establish whether the expense involved in the acquisition of a TENS unit and its application is justified for patients with painful knee osteo-arthritis.