Hidderley Margaret, Weinel Emily
Community Macmillan Nurse, Nightingale Macmillan Continuing Care unit, Derby, UK.
Sister, Surgical Unit, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.
Int J Palliat Nurs. 1997 Jul 2;3(4):185-191. doi: 10.12968/ijpn.1997.3.4.185.
The observation that patients with head and neck cancers undergoing radiotherapy continued to experience pain despite moderate analgesics prompted the first author to investigate whether transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), applied to acupuncture points away from the pain site, would increase the pain relief effect (Table 1). The pilot study involved four patients with head and neck cancers undergoing radiotherapy. The subsequent randomized trial involved 14 patients undergoing inguinal herniorrhaphy. Pain relief in the group receiving TENS on true acupuncture points was compared with that in patients receiving TENS on non-true points. Pain relief was evaluated by pain score and morphine use in the 24 hours following operation. Results of the pilot study suggested that TENS applied to acupuncture points enhanced pain relief. Patients in the follow-up trial had similar pain scores. Those given TENS to non-true acupuncture points required more morphine than those given TENS to true points, suggesting that endogenous opioids released from acupuncture points were boosting pain relief.
头颈部癌症患者在接受放疗时，即便使用了中度镇痛药仍持续感到疼痛，这一现象促使第一作者去研究，对远离疼痛部位的穴位施加经皮电刺激神经疗法（TENS）是否会增强止痛效果（表1）。初步研究纳入了4名头颈部癌症放疗患者。随后的随机试验纳入了14名接受腹股沟疝修补术的患者。将在真穴位接受TENS治疗的组与在非真穴位接受TENS治疗的患者的止痛效果进行比较。通过术后24小时的疼痛评分和吗啡使用量来评估止痛效果。初步研究结果表明，对穴位施加TENS可增强止痛效果。后续试验中的患者疼痛评分相似。接受非真穴位TENS治疗的患者比接受真穴位TENS治疗的患者需要更多吗啡，这表明从穴位释放的内源性阿片类物质可增强止痛效果。
