We investigated the efficacy of
transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (
TENS) for postthoracotomy
pain control in a prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. We studied two groups of patients undergoing posterolateral
thoracotomy. In group 1,
TENS was used postoperatively on 60 patients for 5 days. Group 2 contained 56 patients without
TENS. In both groups a visual analog scale (VAS) was used to indicate if
analgesia was needed. When the VAS was higher than 4, an
analgesic was administered. We observed the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV(1)), the forced vital capacity (FVC), partial arterial
oxygen pressure (PaO2), partial arterial
carbon dioxide pressure (PaCO2), and how many doses of
analgesia were given at postoperative 0 (extubation time), 2, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, and 120 hours.
TENS was not employed in patients with cardiac or neurologic disease. In group 1,
TENS reduced the need to administer
opioids during the 5-day postoperative period. This result is statistically significant (P = 0.013). Additionally, following the sixth postoperative hour,
TENS increased the spirometric breath function. The FEV1, FVC, and PaO2 were high and PaCO2 was low when the first group is compared to the second. All these results are statistically significant (P = 0.012, P = 0.01, P = 0.024, and P = 0.02 respectively). We observed that
TENS produced no evidence of side effects or intolerance in the patients of group 1.
TENS is thus beneficial for
pain relief following
thoracotomy and has no side effects. Consequently, the routine use of
TENS following thoracic surgery is recommended.