Effects of Auricular Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on Distal Extremity Pain: A Pilot Study

Abstract

The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the effectiveness of auricular acupuncture-like transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on pain. Fifteen subjects (6 men, 9 women) experiencing distal extremity pain received either one placebo pill or a 10-minute treatment of acupuncture-like TENS bilaterally to five acupuncture points on the auricle. Pain levels were measured before treatment and at 0, 10, and 30 minutes posttreatment using the visual analogue scale (VAS) and the pain rating index (PRI) of the McGill Pain Questionnaire. The VAS showed no statistically significant differences between Experimental Group (n = 8) and Control Group (n = 7) means at pretreatment or posttreatment; however, both groups showed a reduction in VAS means over time. The Experimental and Control Group means on the PRI were significantly different (p less than .05) at all three posttreatment measurements, but not at pretreatment baseline measurement. These results suggest that auricular acupuncture-like TENS could be an alternative for relief of distal extremity pain. Additional clinical studies are necessary to validate the results of this study.

Efficacy of Auricular Therapy for Pain Management: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

“…Twelve trials did not specify whether bilateral or unilateral acupoints were used. Most of the trials reported positive outcomes; however, one trial showed AA was less effective when compared to local analgesic use [27]; two trials reported mixed results (multiple times points of pain scores) [13, 23]. …”

“…Among these 13 trials, two studies [20, 43] used a 0–100 scale to measure pain, while the eleven other studies used a 0–10 scale. Seven studies reported statistically significant pain relief of auricular therapy compared to the sham group [20, 21, 32, 34, 36, 39, 41, 43], while six studies found no significant difference in pain relief between auricular therapy and the sham control [24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32]. Among the 13 trials, auricular therapy was found to be a significant method of pain relief when compared to the sham or control group (SMD = − 1.59,  95%  CI  [−2.36, − 0.82], P = 0.001).…”

“…A recent meta-analysis (including studies up to December, 2008) of auricular therapy for pain management comprising 17 studies, including three conducted in the U.S. [23, 26, 27], found that auricular therapy reduces analgesic use for perioperative pain (standard mean difference [SMD] = 0.54 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.30, 0.77)) and reduces pain intensity for acute and chronic pain (SMD = 1.56 (95% (CI): 0.85, 2.26)) compared with control groups [52]. …”

Does Ear Acupuncture Have a Role for Pain Relief in the Emergency Setting? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Yeh et al in 2014 performed review 15 of ear acupuncture for immediate pain relief (15 minutes) in non-ED conditions and documented 2 acupuncture versus sham studies involving the changing of burns dressings 42 and chronic distal extremity pain. 43 Both studies showed significant but small effect-size differences favoring ear acupuncture (SMD = 0.37 and 0.34, respectively). 15 The current authors' prior meta-analysis of acupuncture versus sham included both body (6 RCTs) and ear (2 RCTs) acupuncture, and the results also favored acupuncture for a broader range of conditions, with a large effect-size and improved patient satisfaction.…”

Auriculotherapy for Pain Management: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

“…The range of conditions studied included chronic neck, 33 low back, 32 cancer, 14 temporomandibular joint, 43 and distal extremity pain. 44 Of the five studies, two were rated good, one was rated fair, and two were rated poor ( Table 1). The overall change in pain score shows significant improvement for acupuncture treatment versus control (SMD 1.84; 95% CI: 0.60, 3.07; five studies).…”