Background: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a syndrome whose primary symptoms include chronic
widespread muscle pain and fatigue. The treatment of patients with FM aims to provide
symptomatic relief and improvement in physical capacities to perform daily tasks and quality of
life. Invasive or non-invasive electric stimulation (ES) is used for pain relief in patients with FM.
Objective: This systematic review aimed to assess the effects of treatment with ES, combined or
not combined with other types of therapy, for pain relief in patients with FM.
Study Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.
Setting: Electronic search was conducted on databases (from the inception to April 2016):
MEDLINE (accessed by PubMed), EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Cochrane
CENTRAL), and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro).
Methods: Two independent reviewers assessed the eligibility of studies based on the inclusion
criteria: randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effects of ES combined or not with
other types of treatment for pain relief in patients with FM (according to the American College
of Rheumatology), regardless of the ES dosages. The primary outcome was pain, assessed by the
visual analogue scale (VAS). The secondary outcomes extracted were quality of life, assessed by
short form-36 health survey (SF- 36), and fatigue, assessed by VAS.
Results: Nine studies were included, with 301 patients. The meta-analysis for pain showed
positive effect of ES treatment versus control [-1.24 (95% CI: -2.39 to -0.08; I2
: 87%, P = 0.04) n
= 8 RCTs]. The sensitivity analysis for pain showed significant results for invasive ES, combined or
not with other types of therapy [-0.94 (95% CI, -1.50 to -0.38; I2
0%, P = 0.001) n = 3 RCTs]. No
significant improvement was found regarding quality of life [-3.48 (95% CI: -12.58 to 5.62; I2
: 0%,
P = 0.45), n = 2 RCTs] or fatigue [-0.57 (95% CI, -1.25 to 0.11; I2
34%, P = 0.100; n = 4 RCTs].
Limitations: This systematic review included a small number of studies and reduced number
of participants in each study. Furthermore, most of the studies showed some biases and lack of
methodological quality.
Conclusion: This meta-analysis indicates that there is low-quality evidence for the effectiveness
of ES for pain relief in patients with FM. However, moderate-quality evidence for the effectiveness
of electroacupuncture (EA), combined or not combined with other types of treatment, was found
for pain relief.
Clinical Trial Registration Information: PROSPERO under the identification
CRD42015025323
Key words: Electric stimulation, electroacupuncture, transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation,
pain, fibromyalgia, review, physical therapy, rehabilitation
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