title: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation treatment of sickle cell pain crises.
abstract: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been used in a variety of acute and chronic painful conditions, but has not been studied in sickle cell pain crises. We compared TENS versus placebo in a randomized, double-blind, cross-over study involving 60 trials in 4 crisis severity categories. TENS electrodes were applied to the area of severest pain and patients' pain ratings and medication usage were evaluated over a 4-hour period. Pain ratings and analgesic requirements at 1 and 4 h from onset of study were similar in the TENS and placebo groups. Patients assessments of overall treatment efficacy indicated that TENS was more frequently helpful, but there was a substantial placebo effect. Although the value of TENS in this condition was not established in this study, further trials, using varied stimulation parameters, are warranted.
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy*; D002648:Child; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology; D059408:Pain Management; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010919:Placebos; D011897:Random Allocation; D004561:Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation
chemical_list: D010919:Placebos