Evaluation of the treatment of chronic chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy using long-wave diathermy and interferential currents: a randomized controlled trial

Abstract

This study provides no support for the use of a combination of long-wave diathermy and ITH as a treatment option for patients with chronic CIPN. However, the chronic CIPN symptoms decreased with time irrespective of the treatment.

Physiotherapy management of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy in Pretoria, South Africa

“…Almost half indicated that they did not use electrotherapy techniques at all in the management of CIPN. This is in contrast to what is reported in the literature where the use of long-wave diathermy, interferential currents (Lindblad et al 2016) and PBM (Argenta et al 2017) are reported to be beneficial in the treatment of CIPN.…”

“…The physiotherapy management of CIPN has not been researched extensively. From an in-depth literature search, it was found that internationally, the most frequently used physiotherapy management strategies are: manual therapy techniques, such as massage (Brami, Bao & Deng 2016), neuro-developmental techniques, such as sensorimotor retraining (Duregon et al 2018), cardiopulmonary therapy, such as breathing exercises and lifestyle modification (Derksen et al 2017), therapeutic exercises (Kleckner et al 2017) and electrotherapy modalities, such as diathermy, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and photobiomodulation (PBM) (Freitas de Freitas & Hamblin 2016;Lindblad, Bergkvist & Johansson 2016).…”

“…Open Access randomised exploratory study by Schönsteiner et al (2017) indicate that whole-body vibration results in a significant improvement in coordination and fitness in patients with CIPN (Schönsteiner et al 2017). Long-wave diathermy and interferential currents are also used to treat chronic CIPN symptoms (Lindblad et al 2016). They found that long-wave diathermy and interferential current were equally effective in managing CIPN-related symptoms and that the duration and dosage do not determine the effectiveness of the modalities.…”

Non-Pharmacological Management of Painful Peripheral Neuropathies: A Systematic Review

“…During the eligibility assessment 520 articles were excluded. Ultimately, a total of 18 completed studies published between 2000 and 2020 were included in the present review [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. The selection process is illustrated in Fig.…”

“…Interferential therapy is another electrophysical treatment, in which electrical stimuli are applied on the painful area via two or four electrodes using medium-frequency alternating current (MFAC) at frequencies between 1 and 1500 Hz [46,47]. Lindblad et al studied the therapeutic effect of interferential therapy and long-wave diathermy as a monotherapy in patients with chemotherapy-induced painful polyneuropathy and found that long-wave diathermy at low power is effective in decreasing the pain intensity whereas the combination of interferential therapy and long-wave diathermy at high power is not [33].…”