ArticleEuropean journal of midwifery2024
Impact of obstetric physiotherapy and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) on pain management and gastrointestinal function following cesarean birth: A randomized controlled trial.
Article in European journal of midwifery, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Physiotherapy Protocol for Pain in the Immediate Postcesarean Postpartum: Randomized Clinical Trial.Obstetrics and gynecology international · 2026Article
- An update comprehensive review on the effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for postnatal physical and psychological disorders.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Review
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThe study aimed to compare the impact of the physiotherapeutic method combined with TENS and physiotherapy alone on post-cesarean pain levels and the time required for intestinal peristalsis recovery. The study was conducted at the Specialist Hospital in Kraków, from January to March 2020.
methodsThe study was designed as a parallel randomized controlled trial (RCT). Participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: TENS (n=52), nTENS (n=50) and control group (n=34), based on block randomization of 6. The allocation sequence was provided using a computer-generated random list. The participants were 136 postpartum primiparous women after cesarean birth, aged ≥18 years, having a healthy newborn, with no contradictions to TENS. The TENS group received a physiotherapeutic procedure involving a 20-minute exercise program plus a 40-minute session of TENS. The nTENS group received physiotherapeutic procedure alone, and the control group was under the routine care of midwives. The pain was assessed using the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) at 6, 7, 12 and 24 hours after cesarean birth and twice during verticalization.
resultsTENS and nTENS groups had decreased pain intensity immediately after the intervention compared to the control group (p=0.002, p=0.027, respectively). During the first stage of the verticalization, the smallest increase in pain was observed in the TENS (p=0.044 compared to nTENS, p=0.000 compared to the control group). Within the increase in the pain score, the intestinal peristalsis recovery time was longer. In both groups undergoing physical therapy, a shortened recovery time of intestinal peristalsis was demonstrated (p=0.000).
conclusionsThe proposed physiotherapy program, combined with TENS and instruction, proved effective in relieving post-cesarean pain and accelerating the time to first defecation and should be considered part of the standard patient management program in maternity units.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.