Bailey McLagan, Joshua Dexheimer, Nicole Strock, Shayna Goldstein, Stephanie Guzman, David Erceg, E Todd Schroeder
{"title":"The role of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for menstrual pain relief: A randomized control trial.","authors":"Bailey McLagan, Joshua Dexheimer, Nicole Strock, Shayna Goldstein, Stephanie Guzman, David Erceg, E Todd Schroeder","doi":"10.1177/17455057241266455","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Abdominal pain due to menses (primary dysmenorrhea) is an extremely pervasive and debilitating symptom affecting up to 90% of menstruating individuals.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>The objective of this randomized control trial was to investigate the effect of a commercial transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation unit, Therabody PowerDot<sup>®</sup> (Therabody Inc., Los Angeles) on dysmenorrhea compared with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use.</p><p><strong>Design: </strong>This was a randomized cross-over study.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 47 participants agreed to participate in the study, with 34 completing it. Participants completed treatments across three consecutive menstrual cycles in randomized order: single-unit transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (Uno), dual unit transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (Duo), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use (Control). Upon onset of dysmenorrhea, participants applied transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation to their abdomen for a minimum of 30 min. Control participants were instructed to take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as needed. Surveys were used to record pain before and after treatment. We hypothesized that the PowerDot would decrease self-reported pain scores, and decrease non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug consumption during menses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants experienced a statistically and clinically significant reduction in pain during the Control (-3.52 ± 1.9), Uno (-2.10 ± 1.6), and Duo (-2.19 ± 1.7) cycles (<i>p</i> < 0.001). The doses of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs consumed during the Control cycle (3.5 ± 2.6), was significantly different as compared with that of Uno (1.5 ± 3.0), or Duo (1.1 ± 2.6) (<i>p</i> = 0.004).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Use of a commercial transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation unit results in significant decrease in pain. Although not as robust as the relief in pain induced by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the adverse events of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation are minimal in comparison. Therefore, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation appears to be a viable alternative to pain relief from dysmenorrhea.</p><p><strong>Clinical trial registration: </strong>NCT05178589.</p>","PeriodicalId":75327,"journal":{"name":"Women's health (London, England)","volume":"20 ","pages":"17455057241266455"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11282568/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Women's health (London, England)","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/17455057241266455","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: Abdominal pain due to menses (primary dysmenorrhea) is an extremely pervasive and debilitating symptom affecting up to 90% of menstruating individuals.
Objective: The objective of this randomized control trial was to investigate the effect of a commercial transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation unit, Therabody PowerDot® (Therabody Inc., Los Angeles) on dysmenorrhea compared with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use.
Design: This was a randomized cross-over study.
Methods: A total of 47 participants agreed to participate in the study, with 34 completing it. Participants completed treatments across three consecutive menstrual cycles in randomized order: single-unit transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (Uno), dual unit transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (Duo), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug use (Control). Upon onset of dysmenorrhea, participants applied transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation to their abdomen for a minimum of 30 min. Control participants were instructed to take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as needed. Surveys were used to record pain before and after treatment. We hypothesized that the PowerDot would decrease self-reported pain scores, and decrease non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug consumption during menses.
Results: Participants experienced a statistically and clinically significant reduction in pain during the Control (-3.52 ± 1.9), Uno (-2.10 ± 1.6), and Duo (-2.19 ± 1.7) cycles (p < 0.001). The doses of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs consumed during the Control cycle (3.5 ± 2.6), was significantly different as compared with that of Uno (1.5 ± 3.0), or Duo (1.1 ± 2.6) (p = 0.004).
Conclusions: Use of a commercial transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation unit results in significant decrease in pain. Although not as robust as the relief in pain induced by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, the adverse events of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation are minimal in comparison. Therefore, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation appears to be a viable alternative to pain relief from dysmenorrhea.
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号
