Percutaneous neuromodulation pain therapy following knee replacement

A new device (Deepwave) utilizing percutaneous neuromodulation technology has been developed with preliminary studies demonstrating superior pain inhibition compared with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation. We hypothesize that the use of Deepwave is efficacious in reducing the severity of acute pain and opioid use in patients following total knee replacement (TKR) surgery. We conducted a randomized controlled trial on 23 patients who underwent primary TKR. The patients were categorized into two groups--experimental or control group. Following TKR, patients underwent either Deepwave or sham treatments. A Brief Pain Inventory questionnaire and the amount of all pain medications taken were recorded. There was a significant reduction in patient's subjective rating of pain and Visual Analog Scale score in the experimental group (p < 0.05), with a trend toward decreased opioid use but this was not significant (p = 0.09) The Deepwave device is effective in reducing the subjective measures of pain with a trend toward decreased opioid use in patients following TKR.