فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-pharmacological analgesic method used to control differenttypes of pain.Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of preoperative TENS on post inguinal hernia repair pain.Patients and Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was performed on 66 male patients withunilateral inguinal hernias who were admitted to the Shahid Beheshti hospital in Kashan, Iran, from April to October 2014. Participantswere selected using a convenience sampling method and were assigned to intervention (n = 33) and control (n = 33) groupsusing permuted-block randomization. Patients in the intervention group were treated with TENS 1 hour before surgery, while theplacebo was administered to patients in the control group. All of the patients underwent inguinal hernia repair by the Lichtensteinmethod, and pain intensity was evaluated at 2, 4, 6, and 12 hours after surgery using a visual analogue scale. Additionally, theamounts of analgesic administered by pump were calculated and compared between the two groups.Results: The mean estimated postoperative pain intensity was 6.21  1.63 in the intervention group and 5.45  1.82 in the controlgroup (P = 0.08). In the intervention group pain intensity at 2 and 4 hours after surgery were 3.541.48 and 5.121.41 (P < 0.001),respectively. In the control group these values were 4.01.5 and 4.761.39 (P = 0.04), respectively. No significant differences wereobserved in mean pain intensities at 6 and 12 hours.Conclusions: TENS can reduce postoperative pain in the early hours after inguinal hernia repair surgery.