EFFICIENCY OF TRANSCUTANEOUS ELECTRICAL NERVE STIMULATION IN ANESTHESIA DURING LABOR

Aim. To evaluate the efficacy and safety of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for anesthesia during labor. Мaterials and Methods. We consecutively included 35 patients who received TENS and 35 women who had epidural anesthesia during labor. We further evaluated patient satisfaction with anesthesia, pain intensity, frequency of cesarean or traumatic delivery, duration of labor, and adverse perinatal outcomes. Results. Proportions of patients who were completely satisfied or unsatisfied with anesthesia significantly differed in those who received epidural anesthesia (65.7% and 2.9%, respectively) as compared to TENS (34.3% and 18.8%, respectively). Pain intensity for starting TENS was 3.6 ± 1.3 points according to Visual Analogue Scale. During TENS, pain intensity decreased in 7 (21.9%) patients, stabilized in 11 (34.4%) women and increased in 14 (43.76%) patients. No significant differences between TENS and epidural anesthesia were revealed in terms of duration of labor (380.48 ± 188.88 and 489 ± 178.9 minutes, respectively, p = 0.71), duration of anhydrous period (448.08 ± 507.25 and 485.4 ± 311.2 minutes, respectively, p = 0.95), average dose of anesthetic (79.28 ± 44.79 and 75.71 ± 71.08 mL, respectively, p = 0.97), prevalence of traumatic delivery (40.6% and 51.4%, respectively, р = 0.37), amount of blood loss (245.7 ± 107.8 ml and 214.28 ± 54.21 mL, respectively, p = 0.80), and Apgar scale at 1^st minute (7.6 ± 1.5 and 7.7 ± 0.7, respectively, p = 0.95) or 5^th minute (8.7 ± 1.6 and 8.8 ± 0.8, respectively, p = 0.95). Conclusions. Despite limited efficiency, TENS does not increase risk of traumatic delivery and does not affect perinatal outcomes; hence, it can be considered as a promising anesthesia approach during labor.

обезболивание родов, физические методы обезболивания, чрезкожная электроаналгезия, короткоимпульсная электроанальгезия, mamaTENS, «демедикализация» родов, childbirth, labor, delivery, anesthesia, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, epidural anesthesia, mamaTENS

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