Postoperative electroanalgesia.
Fifty-six patients who had undergone abdominal hysterectomy and 10 patients who had undergone cesarean section had fine steel wires placed subdermally in order to provide continuous electrostimulation for pain relief during a 5-day postoperative period. Compared to the same number of patients with identical surgical procedures and postoperative medication orders, but no electrostimulation, they required considerably less analgesic medication. A smaller group of 20 patients who had had abdominal hysterectomy and received mock electrostimulation required approximately the same average amount of medication for pain relief as the group without electrostimulation. Other beneficial effects noted in the patients with electroanalgesia included marked stimulation of the bowel and contraction of the postpartum uterus.
D000698:Analgesia; D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002585:Cesarean Section; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy; D007422:Intestines / Q000502:physiology; D010146:Pain / Q000188:drug therapy; D011247:Pregnancy; D013997:Time Factors
D000700:Analgesics