Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in the management of painful muscle spasm in patients with multiple sclerosis

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) was used to treat eight patients with multiple sclerosis who presented with painful lower limb muscle spasms. All eight had experienced a deterioration in functional ability following initial treatment with spasmolytic agents which had produced an undesirable fall in resting muscle tone. Six of the eight patients experienced a significant improvement in symptoms with TENS treatment. It is suggested that this is an effective method of treating painful muscle spasm in multiple sclerosis. Further studies are underway to investigate the physiological effects of TENS in multiple sclerosis patients.