title: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for spasticity: A systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has traditionally been used to treat pain, some studies have observed decreased spasticity after use of this technique. However, its use in clinical practice is still limited. Our purpose was twofold: to determine whether TENS is effective for treating spasticity or associated symptoms in patients with neurological involvement, and to determine which stimulation parameters exert the greatest effect on variables associated with spasticity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two independent reviewers used PubMed, PEDro, and Cochrane databases to search for randomised clinical trials addressing TENS and spasticity published before 12 May 2015, and selected the articles that met the inclusion criteria. Of the initial 96 articles, 86 were excluded. The remaining 10 articles present results from 207 patients with a cerebrovascular accident, 84 with multiple sclerosis, and 39 with spinal cord lesions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In light of our results, we recommend TENS as a treatment for spasticity due to its low cost, ease of use, and absence of adverse reactions. However, the great variability in the types of stimulation used in the studies, and the differences in parameters and variables, make it difficult to assess and compare any results that might objectively determine the effectiveness of this technique and show how to optimise parameters.
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigación en Fisioterapia Toledo (GIFTO), E.U. Enfermería y Fisioterapia de Toledo, Universidad de Castilla la Mancha, Toledo, España.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fernández-Tenorio
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Función Sensitivomotora, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos de Toledo, Toledo, España.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Serrano-Muñoz
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigación en Fisioterapia Toledo (GIFTO), E.U. Enfermería y Fisioterapia de Toledo, Universidad de Castilla la Mancha, Toledo, España.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Avendaño-Coy
authors.affiliation: Grupo de Investigación en Fisioterapia Toledo (GIFTO), E.U. Enfermería y Fisioterapia de Toledo, Universidad de Castilla la Mancha, Toledo, España; Grupo de Función Sensitivomotora, Hospital Nacional de Parapléjicos de Toledo, Toledo, España. Electronic address: julio.soriano@uclm.es.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gómez-Soriano
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000628:therapy*; D004561:Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation
keywords: Espasticidad; Estimulación eléctrica nerviosa transcutánea; Estimulación eléctrica terapéutica; Hipertonía; Hypertonia; Neurological disease; Patología neurológica; Spasticity; Síndrome de la motoneurona superior; Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation; Upper motor neuron syndrome