Comparing the Effect of Conventional TENS with Acupuncture TENS on Post-Operative Pain Relief

Background: From the patient's point of view, the most important problem after surgery is pain. Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) is a safe, non-invasive, safe, and pain-free way to control pain. Since there are few studies comparing the effect of conventional TENS and acupuncture TENS in relieving acute pain, this study was performed to compare the effect of these two types of TENS on pain relief after abdominal surgery. Methods: 90 patients with a Mean age of 33.19 ± 4.15 undergone inguinal herniorrhaphy and appendectomy were included in the study. The patients were having pain intensity of 7 or more on the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS). They were divided into three groups by the random allocation method. Group A: Conventional TENS (CT), Group B: Acupuncture TENS (AT), and Group C: Placebo TENS. All patients received standard post-operative medications. Pain intensity was recorded on NPRS pre, immediately, and one hour post-intervention. Results: Both Acupuncture TENS and Conventional TENS significantly decreased postoperative pain intensity as compared to Placebo TENS (p<0.0001). The results showed that the Conventional TENS was more effective than Acupuncture TENS. Conclusions: This study showed that both types of TENS were effective in reducing post-operative pain. Therefore, TENS, especially the CT, can be used as an effective adjuvant method, along with other methods of post-operative pain relief.