Effect of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in the treatment of pain in the shoulder of patients with chronic kidney disease: a two-case report

Abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) may bring about several clinical complications associated to long-term dialysis. Amyloidosis is one of such complications and may lead to shoulder pain, common among CKD patients, for which no studies could be found in literature on the use of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) - only surgical and medicine treatments are reported. The purpose here was to assess benefits of TENS in treating shoulder pain due to amyloidosis in patients with CKD. Two female patients were assessed four times in a three-month period. At the initial evaluation, patients were guided as to its use and given a TENS device for use at home (10 Hz, 150 µs, twice a day, for 40 minutes) for three months. Pain was assessed by means of a visual analog scale and of the Wisconsin brief pain questionnaire. Results show that TENS reduced shoulder pain in both patients. Treatment with TENS may hence be effective in reducing shoulder pain in patients with CKD.