Open AccessApplication of low frequency and medium frequency currents in the management of acute and chronic pain-A narrative review
Author(s) -
Stephen Rajan Samuel,
Sahana Shetty
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
indian journal of palliative care/indian journal of palliative care
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.395
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1998-3735
pISSN - 0973-1075
DOI - 10.4103/0973-1075.150203
Subject(s) - medicine , cinahl , transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation , cochrane library , narrative review , medline , modalities , chronic pain , scopus , acute pain , treatment modality , pain management , physical therapy , intensive care medicine , alternative medicine , anesthesia , psychological intervention , surgery , nursing , pathology , social science , sociology , political science , law
Trancutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and interferential therapy (IFT) have been a regular line of treatment for various types of acute and chronic pain. This review aims to compile the latest literature in pain management using these modalities which use low-frequency and medium-frequency currents. The Cochrane Library, Scopus, PubMed, MEDLINE, and CINAHL were searched and studies were examined from their inception till October 2013. After title and abstract screening the relevant studies were included for this review. We found through this review that even though TENS and IFT are used in management of pain, there is limited amount of high quality research available in this area. Most of the studies lack methodological quality and have a low sample size.