TENS or acupuncture for dysmenorrhoea

Clinical bottom line

There is no experimental evidence to support TENS or acupuncture.

Background

TENS is known not to be effective for acute postoperative pain, and for labour. Its efficacy for chronic pain is not established by experiment, though prolonged use for three months or so is observed to produce some relief in a small proportion of patients. There is no background that TENS is effective for any condition from good experimental work, though some people try to differentiate different types of TENS, for instance, high frequency from low frequency. There is no good evidence base for acupuncture for any condition or outcome.

Reference

ML Proctor et al. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and acupuncture for primary dysmenorrhoea. Cochrane database of Systematic reviews 2002 issue 1.

Systematic review

Searching was the usual thorough Cochrane search for randomised trials of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and acupuncture making comparisons with no treatment, medical treatment, or each other, in primary dysmenorrhoea.

Results

Nine trials were found, seven using TENS and one acupuncture, with one using both. Most trials were very small, so that the largest comparison for any outcome only included 106 women. Most comparisons involved 50 women or fewer. There was no convincing benefit of TENS or acupuncture.

Comment

There is no experimental evidence that could support use of either TENS or acupuncture for dysmenorrhoea.