This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Cheing, G. L. Articles by Chan, K M Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Cheing, G. L. Articles by Chan, K M Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Does four weeks of TENS and/or isometric exercise produce cumulative reduction of osteoarthritic knee pain?

Christina WY Hui-Chan

Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Shatin, Hong Kong

K M Chan

Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, Hong Kong

Objective: To evaluate the cumulative effect of repeated transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on chronic osteoarthritic (OA) knee pain over a four-week treatment period, comparing it to that of placebo stimulation and exercise training given alone or in combination with TENS.

Design: Sixty-two patients, aged 50–75, were stratified according to age, gender and body mass ratio before being randomly assigned to four groups.

Interventions: Patients received either (1) 60 minutes of TENS, (2) 60 minutes of placebo stimulation, (3) isometric exercise training, or (4) TENS and exercise (TENS & Ex) five days a week for four weeks.

Main outcome measures: Visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to measure knee pain intensity before and after each treatment session over a four-week period, and at the four-week follow-up session.

Results: Repeated measures ANOVA showed a significant cumulative reduction in the VAS scores across the four treatment sessions (session 1, 10, 20 and the follow-up) in the TENS group (45.9% by session 20, p < 0.001) and the placebo group (43.3% by session 20, p = 0.034). However, linear regression of the daily recordings of the VAS indicated that the slope in the TENS group (slope = -2.415, r = 0.943) was similar to the exercise group (slope = -2.625, r = 0.935), which were steeper than the other two groups. Note that the reduction of OA knee pain was maintained in the TENS group and the TENS & Ex group at the four-week follow-up session, but not in the other two groups.

Conclusions: The four treatment protocols did not show significant between-group difference over the study period. It was interesting to note that isometric exercise training of the quadriceps alone also reduced knee pain towards the end of the treatment period.

Clinical Rehabilitation, Vol. 16, No. 7, 749-760 (2002)
DOI: 10.1191/0269215502cr549oa


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H.-X. Liu, J.-B. Tian, F. Luo, Y.-H. Jiang, Z.-G. Deng, L. Xiong, C. Liu, J.-S. Wang, and J.-S. Han Repeated 100 Hz TENS for the Treatment of Chronic Inflammatory Hyperalgesia and Suppression of Spinal Release of Substance P in Monoarthritic Rats Evid. Based Complement. Altern. Med., March 1, 2007; 4(1): 65 - 75. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E Roddy, W Zhang, and M Doherty Aerobic walking or strengthening exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee? A systematic review Ann Rheum Dis, April 1, 2005; 64(4): 544 - 548. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. L. Cheing and C. W. Hui-Chan Would the addition of TENS to exercise training produce better physical performance outcomes in people with knee osteoarthritis than either intervention alone? Clinical Rehabilitation, May 1, 2004; 18(5): 487 - 497. [Abstract] [PDF]