To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: PENS May Offer Dramatic Short-Term Relief For Chronic Back Pain URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/E9F1E.htm Doctor's Guide March 2, 1999
DALLAS, TX -- March 2, 1999 -- A recently-developed electro-analgesia technique may offer new hope to patients who suffer from chronic, debilitating back pain, according to researchers at the University of Texas-Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. In tomorrow's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, UT Southwestern scientists detail their findings that Percutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (PENS), a technique that involves insertion of acupuncture-like needles into the soft tissue and muscle surrounding bones, produced significant acute pain relief. During the procedure, a small electrical current is passed through the needles. PENS reduces the need for analgesic medications and may decrease the need for other more invasive procedures, such as surgery and spinal-cord stimulation, by becoming part of an interdisciplinary approach to treating chronic back pain, said Dr. Paul White, professor of anesthesiology and pain management and member of the Eugene McDermott Center for Pain Management. The randomised, sham-controlled study, which involved 60 healthy patients with severe lower back pain, compared the effectiveness of PENS to that of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and flexion-extension exercise therapies, two other commonly used pain-relief methods. According to pre- and post-treatment assessments that evaluated patients for discomfort, physical activity and quality of sleep, PENS was significantly more effective in decreasing pain scores after each treatment than the other methods. Following a series of 12 PENS treatments, patients also reported increased physical activity and improved sleep. The primary goal was to improve the quality of life for these patients, many of whom have suffered from debilitating pain for years, said Dr. Robert Gatchel, professor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern. The researchers said that, while PENS is designed to complement, not eliminate, other pain-management techniques, they found patients were very excited by the prospect of avoiding the side-effects caused by drugs and other invasive therapies. They said they are hopeful that PENS can become an integral part of every comprehensive pain-care program. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.