To Find the Effect of TENS on Painful Type-II Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy using NTSS-6 Questionnaire

Background Peripheral neuropathy is the most common complication of type-II DM, affecting nearly one of every three patients of it and increasing in incidence with the duration of diabetes. Painful Diabetic Neuropathy (PDN) is the clinical scenario of neuropathic pain arising as a direct consequence of abnormalities in the peripheral somatosensory system. Pain tends to be bilateral and predominantly involves lower limbs in stocking distribution. NTSS-6 Questionnaire evaluates the frequency and intensity of individual neuropathy sensory symptoms in patients with DPN. Objective To examine the efficacy of TENS on NTSS-6 score in patients with type-II DPN. Method 30 patients fulfilling the selection criteria were equally divided into two groups. Group A (experimental) was given High frequency, sensory intensity TENS. Group B (control) was given sham TENS. Pain frequency & intensity of different sensory symptoms were recorded using NTSS-6 Questionnaire before and after 4 weeks of intervention. Result For within group analysis Wilcoxon signed rank test and for between group analyses Mann-Whitney U test was used. Statistical analysis showed significant improvement in sensory symptoms after 4 weeks. Conclusion It can be concluded that as a non-invasive treatment, TENS therapy is a safe complementary approach in treatment of patients with symptomatic DPN.