Effects of Far Infrared Rays and Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on Short Term Prognosis of Head and Neck Cancer Patients Receiving Curative Treatment

January 11, 2026 updated by: Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine whether far-infrared therapy and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) can improve postoperative side effects in patients with head and neck cancer. The main questions this study aims to answer are:

Can far-infrared therapy and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation reduce pain and improve neck range of motion?

Can far-infrared therapy and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation reduce inflammation?

Researchers will compare three groups:

Group A: control group; Group B: transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation; Group C: far-infrared therapy combined with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, to evaluate differences in pain, neck range of motion, and inflammation.

Participants will receive the assigned intervention in the morning and evening for five consecutive days. Outcome measurements will be conducted on the first and fifth days.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

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 County
      • Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan, 97002
        • Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation

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

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria

  1. Patients aged 30 to 85 years with a confirmed diagnosis of head and neck cancer.
  2. Patients scheduled to undergo surgical resection.
  3. Patients who are conscious, able to communicate verbally or in writing, and willing to complete questionnaires and comply with all study procedures.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Presence of open wounds or skin lesions at the sites where transcutaneous acupoint electrical stimulation electrodes would be applied.
  2. Contraindications to transcutaneous acupoint electrical stimulation, including a history of epilepsy, brain tumors, arteriovenous malformations, or implanted cardiac pacemakers or defibrillators, to avoid potential adverse effects of electrical stimulation.

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: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control Group
routine care
Active Comparator: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
Device: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is applied to the neck region twice daily, in the morning and evening, for five consecutive days.
Experimental: TENS Combined With Far-Infrared Therapy
Device: Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)
Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation is applied to the neck region twice daily, in the morning and evening, for five consecutive days.
Device: Far-Infrared Therapy
Far-infrared therapy is applied to the neck region twice daily, in the morning and evening, for five consecutive days.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Pain intensity
Time Frame: Preoperative baseline (before surgery), postoperative day 10, and postoperative day 15
Pain intensity will be assessed using a numeric rating scale (NRS), with scores ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain imaginable).
Preoperative baseline (before surgery), postoperative day 10, and postoperative day 15

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Neck range of motion (ROM)
Time Frame: Preoperative baseline (before surgery), postoperative day 10, and postoperative day 15
Active neck range of motion will be measured in degrees, including flexion, extension, bilateral rotation, and bilateral lateral flexion.
Preoperative baseline (before surgery), postoperative day 10, and postoperative day 15
Inflammatory markers (LMR, NLR)
Time Frame: Preoperative baseline (before surgery), postoperative day 10, and postoperative day 15
Inflammatory markers will be calculated from complete blood counts, including the Lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio(LMR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR)
Preoperative baseline (before surgery), postoperative day 10, and postoperative day 15

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Buddhist Tzu Chi General Hospital

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 1, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

November 30, 2025

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 31, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 16, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 6, 2026

First Posted (Estimated)

January 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 11, 2026

Last Verified

December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • IRB113-052-A

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

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.

Clinical Trials on Head and Neck Cancer (H&N)

Clinical Trials on Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS)

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Vietnam

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe