TITLE:
The Safety and Efficacy of Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation (TENS) in Reducing Vaginal Delivery Labor Pain: Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
AUTHORS:
Hanan A. A. Farra, Hatem S. Shalaby, Ahmed A. Fahmy, Maii Nawara
KEYWORDS:
Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation, Vaginal Delivery, Labor Pain
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology,
Vol.10 No.5,
May
11,
2020
ABSTRACT: Background: Labor analgesia remains the center of interest for both obstetricians and
women. The safety of the traditional pharmacologic analgesics remains
questionable due to their potential fetal and maternal complications.
Therefore, several non-pharmacological modalities were evaluated for their
safety and efficacy to relieve labor pain. Among these methods, transcutaneous
nerve stimulation (TENS) gained much concern due to ease of use, low cost and
high capacity for women self-titration. The study aims to investigate the
efficacy of TENS in reducing labor pain associated with vaginal deliveries, and
to determine the factors controlling the response to TENS. Methods: The
study was a randomized, controlled clinical trial. A total of 390 women candidates
for vaginal delivery were randomly allocated to 3 groups of intervention: paracetamol
infusion, TENS, and intramuscular pethidine (130 women per group). The primary
endpoint was pain intensity assessed on 10-point VAS scale and women
satisfaction. Secondary endpoints included maternal or fetal complications. Results: VAS scores recorded during vaginal deliveries demonstrated a statistically significant
reduction in TENS group compared to paracetamol at 15, 30 minutes, 1 and 2
hours, while pethidine arm demonstrated lower scores than TENS group (p Conclusion: TENS is a reliable labor pain analgesic with comparable efficacy and superior
safety relative to pethidine. Clinicians should personalize TENS therapy
according to women’s BMI and education level for optimized pain control.