Neurology & Pain Management Coding Alert

Looks for TENS when physicians treat a range of pain conditions.

TENS -- transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation -- therapy uses electrical stimulation to diminish a patient's pain. The provider attaches electrodes to the surface of the patient's skin over the peripheral nerve to be stimulated. The TENS unit inhibi ts transmission of afferent pain nerve impulses and/or stimulates the release of endorphins to decrease the patient's perception of pain.

TENS units are usually small, portable, battery-operated devices administered by a therapist in a clinical setting, and then self-administered by the patient after adequate education. Several skilled therapy sessions usually are required to establish the optimal stimulation settings and sites of electrode placement for the patient.

Physicians have used TENS to relieve chronic intractable pain, post-surgical pain, primary dysmenorrhea, and pain associated with active or post-trauma injury unresponsive to other standard pain therapies. TENS might also be part of a treatment plan for dysphagia or phantom limb syndrome, but these uses are less common and aren't as accepted as viable treatments.