# Different types of electrostimulation target specific impaired sensory and motor functions in chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: a secondary analysis of a controlled trial

## TL;DR

Different electrostimulation methods help specific symptoms of nerve damage caused by chemotherapy, according to a study of 51 patients.

## Contribution

The study shows that high-tone external muscle stimulation and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation target different sensory and motor symptoms in chemotherapy-induced neuropathy.

## Key findings

- High-tone external muscle stimulation improved tingling in hands and numbness in feet.
- Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation reduced pain in feet and improved walking difficulties.
- Electrotherapy was ineffective in the control group not receiving treatment.

## Abstract

We performed a secondary data analysis of a previously published study to investigate the effects of different electrical stimulation modalities on specific impaired sensory and motor functions.

A total of 51 patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) ≥ grade 1 after receiving platinum- and/or taxane-based chemotherapy were randomized to 8 weeks of high-tone external muscle stimulation (HTEMS) or transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). A control group (n = 17) receiving no intervention was recruited retrospectively. Patients received 8 weeks of home-based electrotherapy for at least 5 days a week, for 30 min per day, using either a TENS or HTEMS device. In the original study, changes in the EORTC-QLQ-CIPN20 questionnaire were measured before and after the intervention. For this secondary data analysis, we performed sub-analyses to examine the specific effects of TENS and HTEMS on the individual sensory and motor scale outcomes of the EORTC-QLQ-CIPN20 questionnaire.

For sensory function categories, HTEMS significantly improved tingling in the fingers or hands (p = 0.009) and the numbness in the toes or feet (p = 0.018). TENS tended to reduce shooting or burning pain in the toes or feet (p = 0.051). TENS also demonstrated a trend to improve problems in standing or walking due to difficulties in feeling the ground (p = 0.051), while improvements after HTEMS reached significance (p = 0.045). For motor function categories, TENS improved difficulties opening a bottle due to weakness (p = 0.036), and HTEMS reduced difficulties in walking due to downward dropping of the feet (p = 0.015). There were no changes for any category in the control group.

Electrotherapy is a useful tool for treating CIPN. A symptom-oriented selection of the stimulation modality may be promising.

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03978585