EFFECT OF TRANSCUTANEOUS ELECTRICAL NERVE STIMULATION IN PAIN REDUCTION AND VENOUS BLOOD FLOW AUGMENTATION IN VARICOSE VEIN PATIENTS

Abstract

Background: Patients with varicose veins experience pain in affected leg which is due to venous blood stasis in the lower limb therefore it is essential to determine the severity of pain along with venous blood flow in the affected area. For this purpose the study was conducted to observe the effect of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation for pain reduction and venous blood flow augmentation. Methods: In this study, 80 subjects were included which were divided into Group A (Healthy controls) n=40 and Group B (Varicose vein patients) n=40 which was further subdivided into Group 1 (Varicose vein controls) and Group 2 (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation application). Numeric Rating Scale was used to measure pain score and Duplex Ultrasound was done to measure popliteal vein peak flow velocity (Cm/Sec) and blood flow (mL/min) in both Group A, Group 1 and Group 2 (before and after experiment). Results: The Mean±SD of Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) in Group 2 (5.56±0.651) was statistically significantly reduced (p=0.004) as compared to Mean±SD in Group 1 (7.36±0.757).  Similarly the Mean±SD of popliteal vein peak flow velocity (15.20±1.42) and popliteal vein blood flow (93.08±5.049) was statistically significantly raised (p=0.001) as compared to mean±SD of popliteal vein peak flow velocity (10.06±1.31) and popliteal vein blood flow (71.04±2.894) in Group 1. Conclusion: TENS can be used as an effective adjunctive treatment modality in patients suffering from varicose veins.

Pak J Physiol 2021;17(2):31–4