Exploring the Effects of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation Therapy on Patients After Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery

December 3, 2025 updated by: Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital

Exploring the Impact of Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation Therapy on Postoperative Pain, Quality of Life, and Blood Inflammatory Markers in Lung Cancer Patients After Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery

Thoracic surgery is known to be one of the most painful types of surgery. If acute postoperative pain is not properly managed, there is a high risk that it may develop into clinically significant chronic pain within six months after surgery, which can seriously affect quality of life. According to research on Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS), using multimodal pain management strategies can significantly reduce postoperative pain and decrease reliance on pain medications. This study aims to investigate whether combining transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation therapy with conventional pain management can further enhance pain relief and improve recovery outcomes.

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of three postoperative analgesic strategies in patients undergoing lesion resection via video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). Under standard postoperative care protocols, patients will be randomized into three groups: (1) conventional pharmacologic analgesia alone, (2) conventional analgesia combined with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), and (3) conventional analgesia combined with both transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS). The primary outcomes include the assessment of acute postoperative pain intensity, blood inflammatory biomarkers, health-related quality of life, and the incidence of postoperative complications. This investigation seeks to determine whether adjunctive use of neuromodulatory techniques such as TENS and TEAS can enhance analgesic efficacy and improve postoperative recovery profiles.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

90

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
    • Hualien
      • Taipei, Hualien, Taiwan, 97002
        • Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • People who are about to undergo thoracic surgery

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with epilepsy,
  • Pacemaker installed
  • Severe infections status

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Control Group
Participants receive standard postoperative analgesia according to institutional protocol.
Drug: Standard Analgesia
Postoperative analgesic medications administered according to standard clinical practice and hospital guidelines
Experimental: TENS Group
Participants receive standard postoperative analgesia combined with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)
Drug: Standard Analgesia
Postoperative analgesic medications administered according to standard clinical practice and hospital guidelines
Device: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
Non-invasive electrical nerve stimulation therapy applied to specific areas to reduce postoperative pain
Experimental: TENS + TEAS Group
Participants receive standard postoperative analgesia combined with both transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS).
Drug: Standard Analgesia
Postoperative analgesic medications administered according to standard clinical practice and hospital guidelines
Device: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
Non-invasive electrical nerve stimulation therapy applied to specific areas to reduce postoperative pain
Device: Transcutaneous Electrical Acupoint Stimulation (TEAS)
Electrical stimulation applied to specific acupuncture points through the skin to enhance analgesic efficacy and modulate autonomic function.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Postoperative Pain Intensity Assessed Using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)
Time Frame: Within 48 hours after surgery
Pain intensity will be assessed using a 10-point Visual Analog Scale (VAS), where 0 indicates "no pain" and 10 indicates "worst imaginable pain."
Within 48 hours after surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Blood Inflammatory Markers
Time Frame: Within 48 hours after surgery
Blood inflammatory markers, including the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR), will be calculated using complete blood count (CBC) parameters. NLR increases are commonly interpreted as indicators of elevated systemic inflammation, whereas decreases in LMR may reflect enhanced inflammatory activity or physiological stress following surgery. These ratios will be assessed at multiple perioperative time points to evaluate changes in inflammatory response. The relationship between postoperative pain levels, clinical recovery, and changes in NLR and LMR will be analyzed to determine whether inflammatory activation is associated with greater postoperative pain or adverse outcomes. Units of measure are expressed as ratios (NLR, LMR).
Within 48 hours after surgery
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
Time Frame: At baseline (preoperative), and after surgery 6 and 48 hours later
The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) will be used to evaluate participants' psychological status during the perioperative period. The scale consists of 14 items, with 7 items assessing anxiety (HADS-A) and 7 items assessing depression (HADS-D). Each item is scored from 0 to 3, yielding subscale scores ranging from 0 to 21. Higher scores indicate greater levels of anxiety or depression. Changes in HADS-A and HADS-D scores will be analyzed to determine postoperative psychological responses and the potential impact of different analgesic interventions.
At baseline (preoperative), and after surgery 6 and 48 hours later

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 28, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 28, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 3, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

December 17, 2025

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

December 17, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 3, 2025

Last Verified

April 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Lin,Chun-Ya

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

Because it is still underway, I will share it after the research is completed.

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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