AAP PaperImprovement of quality of life in children with slow transit constipation after treatment with transcutaneous electrical stimulation
Section snippets
Subjects and methods
After attainment of informed consent, subjects were randomized to receive either real or placebo therapy. For 4 weeks, subjects received 12 × 20-minute sessions of either real or placebo IFT (real therapy: carrier frequency, 4 kHz; adjustable intensity with a beat frequency sweep covering 80-120 Hz, with 2 abdominal electrodes placed just below the costal margin and 2 paraspinal electrodes placed over the muscle between T9 and L2). Contraindications to treatment include broken skin at the
Results
Thirty-three children (21 male), with a mean age of 11.8 years (range, 7.4-16.5 years), with STC were recruited. Sixteen children received real IFT. There were no statistical differences between the 2 groups concerning sex, age, onset/duration of symptoms, soiling, and abdominal pain (Table 1).
There was no difference in parentally perceived QOL (PedsQL) after either real (mean, 70.3 vs 70.1; P = .927) or placebo (mean, 69.8 vs 70.2; P = .899) IFT (Fig. 1).
There was no difference in child
Discussion
Slow transit constipation represents a form of chronic constipation that is relatively unresponsive to conventional management consisting of laxatives, dietary modification, behavioral modification, and toilet training [1], [2], [21]. Those with STC experience erratic stool frequency accompanied with colicky abdominal pain and uncontrollable soiling that leads to a significantly poorer QOL than their peers [10]. This is so for both parent- and self-reported scores, with STC appearing to impinge
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