PERCEPTION OF PHYSIOTHERAPIST ON EFFECTS OF TRANSCUTANEOUS ELECTRICAL NERVE STIMULATION IN COMPARISON TO THERAPEUTIC ULTRASOUND FOR THE TREATMENT OF GRADE V BELL’S PALSY

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) and Ultrasound (US) both are the most common therapeutic intervention modalities applied for Bell's palsy treatment. The study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital in order to evaluate the perception of physiotherapist regarding the effects of TENS and US in comparison for the treatment of grade V Bell's palsy. METHODOLOGY It is an observational study based on cross sectional survey based on questionnaire from the physical therapists of a tertiary care hospital with the clinical experience of one year or more. The sample size was 45 based on convenient sampling technique with the mean age of 27.4 ± 7.75 years. RESULTS The results of the study indicated that preference of therapist for the effective treatment of grade 5 Bell's palsy is TENS in comparison to US for early prognosis and patient's satisfaction. Further, the therapist prefers burst mode of TENS for effective results. CONCLUSION Though the study favors use of TENS However, due to small sample size, further studies are required to be conducted in domain to strengthen the role of Burst Mode of TENS as an effective intervention for Bell's palsy.