• Nilgün Özbaş, Emre Ersoy, Murat Korkmaz, and Hacı Ali Olçar.
• Akdağmadeni Health College Nursing Department, Surgical Diseases Nursing, Yozgat Bozok University, Yozgat, Turkey. Electronic address: nilgun.ozbas@bozok.edu.tr.
• Pain Manag Nurs. 2024 Aug 16.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to determine the effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on pain, functionality, quality of life, and analgesic consumption in patients undergoing TKR.DesignA single center, randomized controlled trial.MethodsA total of 52 participants were randomly assigned to the intervention (n = 26) and control (n = 26) groups. The intervention group was exposed to conventional TENS. Data were collected with a Patient Identification Form, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), the Quality of Life Scale (SF-36), and the Analgesic Tracking Form.ResultsVAS and WOMAC scores significantly decreased in the intervention group, over time, while they increased in the control group. SF-36 scores significantly increased in the intervention group over time. It was determined that analgesic consumption was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group.ConclusionsTENS significantly reduced pain and increased functionality and quality of life. Our findings suggest that TENS may be an effective adjunctive analgesic therapy in patients receiving TKR; however, more testing is needed in larger and more heterogeneous populations.Clinical ImplicationsNurses can provide effective postoperative pain control in patients undergoing TKR, increase functionality, accelerate the healing process, and improve their quality of life by using TENS, a non-pharmacological treatment method, in the perioperative period.Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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