Introduction: Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition with widespread pain throughout the body as its defining characteristic. Other symptoms like fatigue, depression and cognitive dysfunction are commonly present as well. Patients can also display diffuse hyperalgesia and allodynia. Goals of treatment are to reduce symptoms, maintain function and improve the quality of life. It is recommended that the treatment should focus firstly on nonpharmacologic modalities with active patient participation. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a nonpharmacological intervention that is commonly used in treatment of chronic pain conditions. It is suitable for independent use. Purpose: Purpose of diploma work was to determine the effects of TENS in patients with fibromyalgia. Methods: Overview of literature was carried out using descriptive method. The literature search was conducted in PubMed database with chosen keywords and set criteria. Results: One clinical controlled trial and six randomized controlled trials were included in this review. Three studies examined effects of TENS compared to placebo or no TENS. Two studies investigated effects of TENS combined with exercise and patient education. And two studies explored effects of TENS in comparison to superficial heating and dry needling. Pain intensity was significantly reduced in groups with TENS. Pain relief was greater compared to placebo or no TENS and compared to exercise without TENS. TENS reduced pain as effectively as superficial heating but was less effective than dry needling. Furthermore, TENS reduced fatigue, but did not affect function. Results whether TENS is effective in improving quality of life were conflicting. Discussion and conclusion: Based on the results presented in this review we can conclude that TENS is effective for reducing pain and fatigue in patients with fibromyalgia. Because of the diversity of the studies, it is unclear which parameters of TENS are most effective, but its use should be long-term and regular.
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