Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) and Neuromodulation Techniques for Pain Management

Dear Colleagues,

There are many therapeutic techniques that modulate activity of neurons to alleviate pain. One of the most popular techniques is transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS), an inexpensive, safe, and self-administered treatment that is prescribed by health care professionals and purchased by patients without prescription. There is strong evidence that TENS inhibits central nociceptive transmission, but a long-standing debate as to whether these physiological effects translate into clinically meaningful reductions in pain when compared with placebo (i.e., no currents). Cochrane reviews on TENS for specific conditions are inconclusive, although non-Cochrane reviews with meta-analyses suggest that TENS is superior to placebo (see Johnson (2014) and Johnson (2020) for reviews). Likewise, uncertainty about efficacy and effectiveness has been long-standing for many other neuromodulation techniques, and this contributes to inconsistency in treatments offered to patients.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to disseminate research and catalyse debate on all matters related to the use of neuromodulation techniques to manage pain, with a particular focus on TENS. The scope is broad to include any technique that delivers energy into the body to influence neural activity with the goal of alleviating pain. Treatments include: TENS and non-invasive electrotherapeutic techniques (e.g. interferential therapy, transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation, and non-invasive brain stimulation); invasive electrotherapeutic techniques (e.g. percutaneous, spinal cord, and brain stimulation) and electrophysical techniques (e.g. thermal, microthermal, photomodulation and mechanical modalities, including acupuncture). We welcome articles on efficacy, effectiveness, utility, service delivery, mechanisms of action, factors influencing response, technological advances, and viewpoints. We will not consider articles about techniques used to manage non-painful ailments such as nausea and vomiting, constipation, bladder dysfunction, dementia, or for neuromuscular rehabilitation.

Prof. Mark I. Johnson
Dr. Priscilla G. Wittkopf
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the Special Issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Medicina is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.