• Stefan Neuwersch-Sommeregger, Markus Köstenberger, Wolfgang Pipam, Christian Breschan, Haro Stettner, Susanne Demschar, Brigitte Trummer, and Rudolf Likar.
• Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Schmerztherapie, Onkologie und Palliativmedizin, Klinikum Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Feschnigstraße 11, 9020, Klagenfurt am Wörthersee, Österreich. stefan.neuwersch@kabeg.at.
• Schmerz. 2020 Feb 1; 34 (1): 65-73.

BackgroundChronic non-specific low back pain (LBP) causes more disability than any other medical condition worldwide. Electrical muscle stimulation in combination with heat (EMS/H) for management of LBP has yet not been properly studied. Our hypothesis was that EMS/H provides better pain relief and improves subjective and objective data compared to standard treatment.MethodsBetween 2015 and 2017, we conducted a 6 week randomized, double-blind, stratified, placebo controlled clinical trial, comparing two different forms of EMS/H with placebo treatment with a follow-up 12 weeks after randomization. Patients >18 years with LBP for >6 months and a pain intensity of numerical rating scale (NRS) ≥4/10 were enrolled.ResultsA total of 100 patients were recruited. Patients were representative of a LBP population with moderate to severe pain (NRS 5.7/10). After 18 treatments, we found a statistically significant pain reduction, which was also observed at the 12 week follow-up.ConclusionEMS/H is an effective and safe method for managing LBP. A clinically relevant and persisting pain reduction, a stable decrease in self-perceived disability, an improvement in both mood and affective characterization as well as sensory characterization of pain, muscle strength and endurance may have a significant impact on the management of LBP.

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