Objective
To assess the value of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) during cervical laser therapy.
Design
Randomized three arm controlled clinical trial comparing (i) TENS, (ii) local anaesthetic and (iii) TENS plus local anaesthetic (direct infiltration of 2% lignocaine and 0.03 iu/ml octopressin).
Setting
Colposcopy Unit adapted to run randomized trials.
Subjects
100 women with CIN and no previous experience of cervical surgery.
Main outcome measure
Visual linear analogue pain scores.
Results
The median pain score associated with TENS was greater than the score associated with local anaesthesia (23% compared with 17%; P= 0.1). Combining TENS with local anaesthesia did not further reduce pain scores.
Conclusion
Although there was considerable consumer satisfaction with TENS it provided no additional pain relieving effect in addition to direct infiltration of lignocaine and it is inferior to lignocaine alone. We are unable to advocate the use of TENS for laser treatment of the cervix.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.