Cover Story:
The Politics of Electrical Therapy.

Therapy Closeup:
Patello-Femoral Maltracking.

Bit's n' Pieces:
MET: The Big Picture. What's it all about?

The Fact Files:
Scientific research in support of Electrical Stimulation for post-operative pain relief.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in acute hand infections.

Quinton DN, Sloan JP, Theakstone J

J Hand Surg [Br] 1987 Jun;12(2):267-8

Twenty-six patients with severe hand infections requiring operative drainage and admission to hospital were entered into a prospective, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. This was to test the use of a functioning transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator and a non-functioning transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator for pain relief in the first three postoperative days.

Those patients with a functioning transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator required significantly less analgesia. They also demonstrated highly significant improvement in their range of total active movement over those patients with a non-functioning transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator.

We recommend the use of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulator after operation to reduce pain and improve mobility.