• Bilge Kara, Ferdi Baskurt, Serap Acar, Didem Karadibak, Lugen Ciftci, Serhat Erbayraktar, and Ali Necati Gokmen.
• Dokuz Eylul University, School of Physical Therapy, Inciraltı, Izmir, Turkey. bparlak@deu.edu.tr
• Turk Neurosurg. 2011 Jan 1;21(4):618-24.

AimThe aim of our study was to examine the effects of the use of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) in patients who had undergone spinal surgery on pain, functionality, depression and consumption of analgesic agents.Material And MethodsFifty-Four patients were randomized and placed into two groups, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) plus TENS and only PCA. To assess the pain levels of the patients, the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used. In the assessment of their functional levels, the Timed Up and Go test (TUG) was utilized and in the assessment of their depression, the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used. The measurements were performed before the operation and on the first and second postoperative days. The side effects were recorded from the analgesic agents.ResultsDuring the first and second days after the operation, a decrease in the pain levels was noticed in the TENS group (p < 0.05. In the TENS group, the consumption of analgesic agents also decreased and thus side effects were less frequent. From the viewpoint of functional and depression levels, no significant difference between the groups was noticed (p > 0.05).ConclusionTENS was effective in reducing analgesic agent-related side effects and in reducing analgesic consumption. In addition, TENS also decreased activity related pain.

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