• Ling-Xiao Chen, Zhi-Rui Zhou, Yu-Lin Li, Guang-Zhi Ning, Yan Li, Xiao-Bo Wang, and Shi-Qing Feng.
• *Department of Orthopaedics, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Heping District, Tianjin †Department of Radiation Oncology, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center ‡Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
• Clin J Pain. 2016 Feb 1; 32 (2): 146-54.

ObjectivesTranscutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been reported to relieve pain and improve function in patients with knee osteoarthritis. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of TENS for the management of knee osteoarthritis.MethodsWe searched Embase, PubMed, CENTRAL, SIGLE, PEDro, and clinicaltrials.gov, up to June 2014 for literature related to TENS used for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Two authors independently screened the searched records based on the title and abstract. Information including the authors, study design, mean age, sex, study population, stimulation frequency (of TENS), outcome measures, and follow-up periods were extracted by the 2 authors.ResultsEighteen trials were included in the qualitative systematic review, and 14 were included in the meta-analysis. TENS significantly decreased pain (standard mean difference, -0.79; 95% confidence interval [CI], -1.31 to -0.27; P<0.00001) compared with control groups. There was no significant difference in the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (standard mean differences, -0.13; 95% CI, -0.35 to 0.1; P=0.09) or the rate of all-cause discontinuation (risk ratio, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.48 to 1.22; P=0.94) between the TENS and control groups.DiscussionTENS might relieve pain due to knee osteoarthritis. Further randomized-controlled trials should focus on large-scale studies and a longer duration of follow-up.

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