Systematic review of efficacy of TENS for management of central pain in people with multiple sclerosis

Access, delivery and perceived efficacy of physiotherapy and use of complementary and alternative therapies by people with progressive multiple sclerosis in the United Kingdom: An online survey

“…One intervention, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, was generally reported to be beneficial although 13% reported it to be potentially harmful. This negative opinion is in contrast with two systematic reviews which concluded that transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation was both safe and effective for treating spasticity (FernandezTenorio et al, 2016) and pain (Sawant et al, 2015) in multiple sclerosis although the type of multiple sclerosis may have an impact upon efficacy (Sawant et al, 2015).…”

Does TENS Reduce the Intensity of Acute and Chronic Pain? A Comprehensive Appraisal of the Characteristics and Outcomes of 169 Reviews and 49 Meta-Analyses

“…Amatya et al [ 192 ] evaluated TENS for low back pain whereas Sawant et al [ 79 ] and Jawahar et al [ 193 ] evaluated TENS on central neuropathic pain associated with abnormal sensibility.…”

“…The Cochrane review by Amatya et al [ 192 ] published in 2018 on non-pharmacological interventions for chronic pain in multiple sclerosis, included one study evaluating TENS for low back pain [ 37 ] that was judged to be very low-level evidence of benefit. Sawant et al [ 79 ] published a systematic review and meta-analysis in 2015 that included four studies and claimed to provide Grade 2 level evidence that TENS was beneficial and safe for central pain. Interestingly, Sawant et al [ 79 ] included three small pilot studies from the same investigating team evaluating TENS for low back pain [ 37 , 194 , 195 ], raising issues about violating unit of analysis criteria.…”

“…Sawant et al [ 79 ] published a systematic review and meta-analysis in 2015 that included four studies and claimed to provide Grade 2 level evidence that TENS was beneficial and safe for central pain. Interestingly, Sawant et al [ 79 ] included three small pilot studies from the same investigating team evaluating TENS for low back pain [ 37 , 194 , 195 ], raising issues about violating unit of analysis criteria.…”

Combining transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation with therapeutic exercise to reduce pain in an elderly population: a pilot study

“…TENS, perhaps the lesser known of these two interventions, consists in applying electrical stimulation through skin electrodes to depolarize peripheral nerve fibers and induce hypoalgesia [12]. Multiple studies have demonstrated the hypoalgesic effects of TENS in patients suffering from various conditions, such as migraines, knee osteoarthritis, multiple sclerosis, and pelvic pain [13][14][15][16]. There is evidence to show that age can influence patients' response to TENS.…”