A Review of Scrambler Therapy for Chronic Neuropathic Pain

Abstract

Introduction: An increase in accidental death related to prescription opioid abuse prompts the identification of novel strategies to treat chronic pain at a low risk to patients and their communities. Scrambler therapy (ST) has recently emerged as a viable treatment option for patients with neuropathic pain (NP), prompting a systematic review of the literature. Materials and Methods: We conducted a literature search in PubMed, Embase, and other search engines with the key words scrambler therapy, Calmare®, and neuropathic pain. Results: Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria for the literature review. Each of these studies reported varying degrees of pain reduction when patients were treated via ST. Discussion: ST appears to effectively treat a variety of NP syndromes; however further sham controlled studies are needed to validate this claim.