Faculdade de Medicina do ABC (FMABC), Laboratório de Epidemiologia e Análise de dados (ABC Medical School), Av. Lauro Gomes, 2000, Vila Sacadura Cabral, CEP: 09060-870, Santo André, SP, Brazil.
Centre in Physical Activity and Health. Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil.
Syst Rev. 2017 Jul 11;6(1):139. doi: 10.1186/s13643-017-0532-5.
Pain reduction can be achieved by lowering proinflammatory cytokine levels in the blood. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-invasive physiotherapeutic resource for pain management, but evidence on the effectiveness of this device at reducing proinflammatory cytokines in the blood is unclear. This study systematically reviews the literature on the effect of TENS on proinflammatory cytokines.
A systematic review protocol was developed based on searches of articles in six electronic databases and references of retrieved articles, contact with authors, and repositories of clinical trials. Eligibility criteria: publication in peer-reviewed journals, randomized clinical trials, use of TENS in the experimental group, and pre- and post-measurements of proinflammatory cytokines in the blood. Selection of the studies and extraction of the data will be carried out by two reviewers independently. Characteristics of the study, participants, interventions and outcomes were extracted and described. Assessments were performed on the risk of bias, level of evidence and the size of the intervention effect in the studies, according to GRADE guidelines and the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews. Clinical and statistical assessments compared the effects of the interventions (meta-analysis), taking into consideration any influencing characteristics of the studies (e.g., methods and application sites).
We anticipate that this review will strengthen evidence-based knowledge of the effect of TENS on proinflammatory cytokines and, as a result, direct new studies to benefit patients with specific pathologies.
PROSPERO, CRD42017060379 .
降低血液中促炎细胞因子水平可以实现疼痛缓解。经皮神经电刺激（TENS）是一种非侵入性的物理治疗资源，可用于疼痛管理，但关于该设备降低血液中促炎细胞因子的有效性证据尚不清楚。本研究系统地综述了 TENS 对促炎细胞因子影响的文献。
根据在六个电子数据库和检索文章的参考文献中搜索、与作者联系以及临床试验存储库，制定了系统评价方案。纳入标准：发表在同行评议期刊上、随机临床试验、实验组使用 TENS、血液中促炎细胞因子的预测量和后测量。将由两名评审员独立选择研究和提取数据。将提取和描述研究、参与者、干预措施和结局的特征。根据 GRADE 指南和 Cochrane 系统评价手册，评估研究中的偏倚风险、证据水平和干预效果的大小。临床和统计评估比较了干预措施的效果（荟萃分析），并考虑了研究的任何影响特征（例如，方法和应用部位）。
我们预计该综述将加强 TENS 对促炎细胞因子影响的循证知识，并为针对特定病理患者的新研究提供指导。
PROSPERO，CRD42017060379。
