ArticlePain and therapy2025
Electrode Placement Affects Clinical Outcome in Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Combined Cadaver Study and Randomized Controlled 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. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Current status and research gaps of neuromodulation in the rehabilitation of knee osteoarthritis: a scoping review.Frontiers in neurologyPooled it
- Wireless IoT-enabled microneedle electroceutical for personalized and connected pain management.Nature communications · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionTranscutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a widely used physical therapy for knee osteoarthritis (OA) pain management. However, the optimal electrode placement for TENS in knee OA remains unclear. Given that TENS delivers stimulation via electrodes to cutaneous nerves, placing electrodes in areas with high nerve density should be the precondition to exert its therapeutic effects. However, high-density nerve areas around the knee and corresponding electrode placement strategies have yet to be investigated.
methodsAn anatomic study was conducted on 20 adult formalin-fixed cadavers to identify the high-density nerve areas around the knee. Then, to standardize electrode placement, the patellar width was used as a reference to determine distances from the patellar borders. Subsequently, 80 patients with Kellgren-Lawrence grade 2 or 3 knee OA were enrolled in a randomized, double-blinded trial. Participants received TENS therapy with electrodes placed either on the identified high-density nerve areas (study cohort, n = 40) or on traditional pain areas (control cohort, n = 40).
resultsFour high-density nerve areas were identified: the quadriceps tendon, patellar ligament, medial joint line area, and superior medial area of the knee. Over the follow-up period, patients in the study cohort showed significantly greater improvements in VAS score and WOMAC index total score, as well as in pain, stiffness, and function subscales compared with those in the control cohort (all P < 0.05).
conclusionsThese findings suggest that positioning electrodes over high-density nerve areas allows TENS more effectively activate sensory afferents, thereby enhancing pain relief.
trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry identifier, ChiCTR2500098200, 4 March 2025, retrospectively registered.
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