Trial reportBMC pregnancy and childbirth2021
The effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation during the first stage of labor: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07044622 (Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation), which is not on this map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) for Intrauterine Device (IUD) Pain
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- The efficacy and safety of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for labor analgesia in the first stage of labor: a qualitative and quantitative analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Article
- The Effects of Acupoint Stimulation Combined With Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on Labor Pain: Protocol for a Stepped Wedge Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- The Impact of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) on the Consecutive Stages of Labour and Perinatal Outcomes-A Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Review
- Non-Pharmacological Pain Management in Labor: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Comparisons of nonpharmaceutical analgesia and pharmaceutical analgesia on the labor analgesia effect of parturient women.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2023Article
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation with the injection of pethidine and promethazine in the labor pain reduction: A randomized controlled trial.Caspian journal of internal medicine · 2023Article
- The Main Changes in Pregnancy-Therapeutic Approach to Musculoskeletal Pain.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Review
- Transcutaneous Nerve Electrostimulation (TENS) in Pain Relief During Labor: A Scope Review.Revista brasileira de ginecologia e obstetricia : revista da Federacao Brasileira das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundLabor pain during childbirth can have devastating effects on the progress of labor, mother, and fetus. Consequently, the management of labor pain is crucial for the well-being of the mother and fetus. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non -pharmacological analgesic technique. It uses a low-voltage electrical current to activate descending inhibitory systems in the central nervous system to relieve pain. This study aimed to determine the effects of TENS therapy in the first stage of labor.
methodsIn this single-blind randomized controlled trial, we screened low-risk pregnant women who anticipated spontaneous vaginal delivery. Women were assigned (1:1) to either the experimental group (received TENS therapy in the first stage of labor) or the control group (received routine obstetric care). The women, midwives, and researchers working in the gynecology and obstetric department were aware of the treatment group, but statisticians analysis the data were blinded. The primary outcome was labor pain intensity, assessed by visual analog scale (VAS) immediately after the randomization, at 30, 60, and 120 min after TENS therapy, and 2-24 h post-delivery. We used SPSS 21.0 software in data analysis. An independent sample t-test compared the mean VAS scores and labor duration between groups. A Chi-square test was employed to compare categorical variables between the groups. A significant level of ≤0.05 was statistically significant.
resultsA total of 326 pregnant women were eligible: experimental group (n = 161) and control group (n = 165). The experimental group had statistically significantly lower mean VAS scores at a different time (30, 60, and 120 min post-intervention and 2-24 h post-delivery) than the control group (p < 0.001). The experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant shorter duration of the active labor phase than the control group (p < 0.001).
conclusionThis study indicates that TENS can be used as a non-pharmacological therapy to reduce pain and shorten the active labor phase.
trial registrationISRCTN registry, ISRCTN23857995 . Registered on 11/12/2020, 'retrospectively registered.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.