ABSTRACT
Background: Acupuncture-like TENS (AL-TENS) has been shown to produce prolonged pain relief, but no study has yet investigated its duration on a population suffering from chronic low back pain (CLPB). Objective: Our objective was to quantify the duration and magnitude of analgesia induced by a 15- or 30-minute application of AL-TENS. Methodology: We recruited a sample of 11 participants presenting with CLBP and conducted a randomized, crossover study, where participants were given AL-TENS for 15 and 30 minutes on two separate occasions. The pain intensity of their CLBP was assessed with a visual analogue scale before, during, and after AL-TENS applications. Magnitude and duration of analgesia were determined for each subject and for both AL-TENS application times. Results: The AL-TENS applications induced a clinically and statistically significant (p = 0.003) analgesia in all participants. Median duration of analgesia was 9 hours and 10 hours 30 minutes following the 15- and 30-minute AL-TENS applications, respectively; this 1.5-hour difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.55). Furthermore, we observed no significant difference in the magnitude of analgesia between both applications of AL-TENS (p > 0.56), suggesting that the duration of application of AL-TENS does not influence the magnitude of analgesia. Conclusion: Our results suggest that clinicians could use a 15-minute AL-TENS application to provide significant analgesia in patients presenting with low back pain since if provides a comparable analgesia versus a 30-minute application.
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Acknowledgments
The equipment (AL-TENS) was provided by the School of Rehabilitation of the Université de Sherbrooke. The authors would like to thank Pr Philippe Goffaux, PhD., for his help on the design of the study as well as his insightful comments on the manuscript. Yannick Tousignant-Laflamme is a supported member of the Clinical research center of the CHUS and member of the Quebec Pain Research Network.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no declarations of interest.