The efficacy of electroanalgesia in postoperative pain management after knee arthroplasty surgery. A systematic review with meta-analysis

Objective: the aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the efficacy of electro-analgesia after knee arthroplasty surgery. Methods: the literature search involved multiple databases. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included and pain assessment or analgesic consumption were considered as outcomes. Risk of Bias analysis, me-ta-analysis and GRADE method was applied. Results: 11 articles were selected for quantitative data analysis. In the meta-analyses for VAS on first and third day after surgery, the mean difference was lower in the intervention group by 0.5 (CI: −1.03; 0.03) and 0.66 (CI: −1.2; −0.11) points with a significance equal to 0.07 and 0.02 respectively but with high heterogeneity. On the fifth day the difference disappeared (mean difference: −0.02; CI: −0.75, 0.71; p = 0.96). Conclusions: There is no evidence to support the effectiveness of electro-analgesia treatment following knee replacement surgery. A low certainty of evidence showed a limited effect of this treatment modality.