Effect of Transcutaneous Electro-stimulation in Ambulatory Postoperative Rehabilitation Treatment in Thoracic Surgery.
Condition: Thoracic; Postoperative Pain
MeSH terms: Pain, Postoperative
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Chest pain is one of the most difficult problems to solve after thoracic surgery. Its correct
      control is often quite difficult, which can cause complications due to an ineffective cough
      and superficial respiratory movements. It could provoke secretion retention, lung
      atelectasis, and even pneumonia. In addition, insufficient treatment of postoperative pain
      also causes a slower recovery of mobility, delaying the incorporation to daily life
      activities.

      Transcutaneous electrical stimulation (TENS) is a technique that attempts to establish pain
      control by applying electrical current through superficial electrodes Is transcutaneous
      electrical nerve stimulation effective for the pain rehabilitation approach after thoracic
      surgery? Are there spirometry changes related to pulmonary function after the application of
      transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in postoperative rehabilitation of thoracic
      surgical patients?
    

Detailed description: 
      All patients likely to be part of the study will have an exhaustive medical history. Said
      clinical history will have, as a basis, the following aspects:

        -  Filiation data.

        -  Personal history.

        -  Type of intervention carried out.

        -  Incisions made.

        -  Chronology, location and characteristics of pain. Once intervened, the data
           corresponding to the surgical intervention performed will be collected. Once the period
           of 7 days after the intervention has passed and in the absence of complications and
           pleural drainage, the period of respiratory physiotherapy will begin.

      Assessment of quality of life The SF-36 (Short Form Health Survey) health questionnaire will
      be carried out. This questionnaire is used in medical and mental health research and, in
      general, in health-related research. It offers an overview of the health status of the
      person, with the advantage that it is quick and easy to fill out, while also being easy to
      assess. In the same way, by allowing the numerical assessment of different aspects of the
      health of the person, it becomes an excellent tool for any research related to health. It
      contains 36 questions that address different aspects related to the daily life of the person
      who fills in the questionnaire. These questions are grouped and measured in 8 sections that
      are evaluated independently and give rise to 8 dimensions that the questionnaire measures.

      The eight dimensions are:

        1. Physical functioning.

        2. Limitation due to physical problems.

        3. Body pain.

        4. Functioning or social role.

        5. Mental health.

        6. Limitation due to emotional problems.

        7. Vitality, energy or fatigue.

        8. General perception of health. In 1991, the project known as "International Quality of
           Life Assessment" (International Quality of Life Assessment Project, IQOLA) was started,
           which basically consists of adapting and testing the intercultural applicability of a
           generic instrument called the SF-Health Survey. (Short Form 36 Health Survey).

      The Spanish version of the SF-36 is one of the most widely used generic instruments in the
      national territory, both in descriptive studies that measure the impact on HRQL in different
      patient populations and for the evaluation of therapeutic interventions.

      Pain assessment

      The necessary tools to make a correct pain assessment. In this sense, two ways of measuring
      it will be established:

        1. Self-reports, where the visual analog scale (VAS) will be the basic measurement tool.
           The pain will be marked with a scale from 0 (absence of pain) to 10 (maximum possible
           pain).

        2. The standardized tests, as an objective of the study, are also proposed to analyze
           sensitive, affective and behavioral aspects of pain in these patients, it is for this
           reason that the Mc Gill test will be the tool to take into account.

      Assessment of respiratory function The different respiratory parameters will be measured by
      spirometry (Siebel spirometer): Forced Vital Capacity (FVC); Forced expiratory volume of the
      first second (FEV1); FEV1 / FVC (Tiffeneau Index).
    

Intervention name(s): Control; Experimental; Placebo
Intervention type(s): Device; Device; Device
Intervention description(s): Post-surgical physiotherapeutic activity.; Post-surgical physiotherapeutic activity with the application of the technique; Post-surgical physiotherapeutic activity with the application of the non-activated technique
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Sequential Assignment
Intervention model description: Randomized trial
Masking: Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Rehabilitation; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation; Thoracic surgery; Postoperative pain