Álamo-Arce Daniel David, López-Fernández Daniel, Medina-Ramírez Raquel, Vílchez-Barrera Martín, Etopa-Bitata Pilar, Del Pino Quintana-Montesdeoca Maria, Báez-Suárez Aníbal, Freixinet Jorge L
Physical Therapy, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain.
University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain.
Trials. 2024 Dec 19;25(1):839. doi: 10.1186/s13063-024-08613-9.
Chest pain is one of the most difficult problems to solve after thoracic surgery. Its correct control is often quite difficult, which can cause complications due to an ineffective cough and superficial respiratory movements.
This study has been designed with the purpose of studying the value of transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) in the postoperative pain rehabilitation of thoracotomy. A prospective and randomized study has been developed. The patients (n = 109) have been treated after hospital discharge with physiotherapy for 3 weeks. Three groups have been established: experimental (n = 37), control (n = 35), and placebo (n = 37), experimental and placebo including the application of TENS during the physiotherapy protocol. Postoperative pain (McGill test) and spirometry have been studied before and after treatment.
The largest between-group discrepancy occurred between the experimental and control groups, 16.77 points (p < 0.001). Spirometry has shown an improvement in FVC (27.11%) and FEV1 (28.68%) (p < 0.001) in the experimental group, which was statistically significant compared to the other groups.
The use of TENS, as an adjunctive treatment to physiotherapy, leads to an improvement in pain control and spirometry values in patients after thoracic surgery, without producing side effects with the technique. These findings provide physiological evidence for the use of TENS in post-pulmonary surgery and may form the basis for the development of pain managed-based programs in clinics and hospitals.
NCT04964973 (ClinicalTrials.gov). First registration: July 16, 2021.
胸痛是胸外科手术后最难解决的问题之一。其正确控制往往相当困难，可能因咳嗽无效和浅呼吸运动而导致并发症。
本研究旨在探讨经皮电刺激（TENS）在开胸术后疼痛康复中的价值。开展了一项前瞻性随机研究。患者（n = 109）出院后接受了3周的物理治疗。设立了三组：实验组（n = 37）、对照组（n = 35）和安慰剂组（n = 37），实验组和安慰剂组在物理治疗方案中应用TENS。在治疗前后研究了术后疼痛（麦吉尔测试）和肺功能测定。
实验组和对照组之间的组间差异最大，为16.77分（p < 0.001）。肺功能测定显示，实验组的用力肺活量（FVC）提高了27.11%，第一秒用力呼气量（FEV1）提高了28.68%（p < 0.001），与其他组相比具有统计学意义。
TENS作为物理治疗的辅助治疗方法，可改善胸外科术后患者的疼痛控制和肺功能测定值，且该技术无副作用。这些发现为TENS在肺手术后的应用提供了生理学证据，并可能成为临床和医院基于疼痛管理方案发展的基础。
NCT04964973（ClinicalTrials.gov）。首次注册：2021年7月16日。
