• Ru-Lan Hsieh and Wen-Chung Lee.
• Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Shin Kong Wo Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Shih Lin District, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
• Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2002 Nov 1;81(11):838-43.

ObjectiveTo investigate the therapeutic effects of one shot of low-frequency percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation one shot of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in patients with low back pain.DesignIn total, 133 low back pain patients were recruited for this randomized, control study. Group 1 patients received medication only. Group 2 patients received medication plus one shot of percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. Group 3 patients received medication plus one shot of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. Therapeutic effects were measured using a visual analog scale, body surface score, pain pressure threshold, and the Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale.ResultsImmediately after one-shot treatment, the visual analog scale improved 1.53 units and the body surface score improved 3.06 units in the percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation group. In the transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation group, the visual analog scale improved 1.50 units and the body surface score improved 3.98 units. The improvements did not differ between the two groups. There were no differences in improvement at 3 days or 1 wk after the treatment among the three groups.ConclusionsSimple one-shot treatment with percutaneous electrical nerve stimulation or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation provided immediate pain relief for low back pain patients. One-shot transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation treatment is recommended due to the rarity of side effects and its convenient application.

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