Abstract
Objective: To verify possible effects of transcutaneous electrical nervous stimulation on the pain threshold in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery due to sternotomy, arising from a systematic review of the literature. Methods: This is a systematic review of controlled and randomized studies, based on PRISMA. The Cochrane Library, PEDro, Pubmed / MEDLINE, Embase and BVS databases were used, being searched by the combination of the keywords sternotomy and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation without language and period restriction. The methodological quality of the articles was assessed using the PEDro scale. The data was read, analyzed, extracted and synthesized. Results: Out of a total of 83 articles, only 2 met the inclusion criteria. The combined sample of the articles was 40 individuals submitted to sternotomy who received the intervention on the first PO day. Both studies were classified as being of low methodological quality. The interventions were heterogeneous, varying the number of interventions per day and the application parameters. Final Considerations: There is no guarantee that TENS will be effective in treating pain after cardiac surgery.