ArticlePain and therapy2025
Evaluating Noninvasive Pulsed Electromagnetic Field Therapy for Joint and Soft Tissue Pain Management: A Prospective, Multi-center, Randomized Clinical Trial.
Article in Pain and therapy, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05244187 (Prospective, Multi-Center, Randomized Study to Evaluate the OrthoCor Active System for Pain Relief), which is not on this map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Prospective, Multi-Center, Randomized Study to Evaluate the OrthoCor Active System for Pain Relief
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Impact of pulsed electromagnetic fields on intervertebral disc degeneration: a systematic review of preclinical and clinical evidence.Frontiers in aging · 2026Pooled it
- Article
- Therapeutic Magnetic Fields in Oncology: A Systematic Review of Safety and Supportive Clinical Use.Cureus · 2026Review
- Most Common Injuries in Resistance Training: Mechanisms, Therapeutic Interventions, and Preventive Strategies.Cureus · 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
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionStrategies to reduce pharmacologic use for pain are needed. Pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) therapy is a noninvasive, nonpharmacologic treatment for pain that modifies nitric oxide signaling to improve healing. This study examined whether PEMF decreased pain and pharmacologic use vs. standard-of-care (SOC) treatment for joint and soft tissue pain.
methodsThis prospective, randomized controlled trial enrolled 120 patients presenting with joint or soft tissue pain at five orthopedic clinic sites. The PEMF group self-administered daily therapy from a commercially available device and the SOC group received standard treatment daily as prescribed by the clinician. Patients recorded their pain level, pharmacologic usage, and adverse events daily for 14 days. After 14 days, patients in the SOC group were given the option to crossover to PEMF therapy and continue for 16 days. The study was overseen by an independent clinical research organization. It was hypothesized that PEMF would be superior to SOC for pain management.
resultsPEMF treatment provided significant analgesic benefits compared to SOC. Complete data was collected for 91 patients, 48 from the PEMF group and 43 from the SOC group. The least squares mean pain score change from baseline was - 1.8 (a 36% reduction) for the PEMF group, significantly surpassing - 0.46 (a 10% reduction) for the SOC group (p < 0.0001). Pharmacologic usage decreased from 40 to 18% for the PEMF group (a 55% reduction), while the SOC group decreased from 40 to 35% (a 12% reduction). In the crossover subgroup, patients experienced an additional 18% decrease in pain score and 63% decrease in pharmacologic use after switching from SOC to PEMF treatment.
conclusionsPEMF was significantly more effective than SOC at managing pain and reducing pharmacologic use. PEMF therapy should be considered for noninvasive, nonpharmacologic management of joint and soft tissue pain.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov ID NCT05244187.
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