Practitioners preference in using electrotherapy to treat paediatric lower limb conditions: an online survey

PurposeElectrotherapies are commonly used to treat adult musculoskeletal pathologies. However, there is insufficient evidence supporting the use of electrotherapies for lower limb conditions in children. Currently, it is unknown how electrotherapies are used in paediatric clinical practice. This study aimed to investigate if practitioners use electrotherapy to treat children's lower limb conditions, frequency and why.Materials and methodsA custom-built online survey was disseminated via social media targeting international medical and healthcare practitioners who treat children with lower limb conditions using electrotherapy. Practitioners were asked if they did or did not use electrotherapies, and their reasons. Responses were described in frequencies and with thematic analysis.ResultsThere were 445 practitioners who responded. From these, 301(68%) indicated they used electrotherapy, with the most frequently used being Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (n = 110). The most common reason cited for using electrotherapy was practitioner preference due to the alleged effectiveness of the chosen modality. The remaining 144 (32%) practitioners reported not using electrotherapy, the most common reason being lack of evidence.ConclusionsWe found that a majority of practitioners used electrotherapies on children. The reasons for using or not using electrotherapy were practitioner centred. Electrotherapy modalities are commonly used to treat musculoskeletal injuries in adultsThe management of children differs from adults due to physiological and psychological differences.The use of electrotherapy to treat musculoskeletal lower limb pathologies children is currently not supported by evidence, and the frequency of use of these modalities in children is not known.This study found that despite that, a majority of medical and health practitioners surveyed in this study routinely use electrotherapy to treat paediatric musculoskeletal injuries.

Automated summary

This study investigated the use of electrotherapy in treating lower limb conditions in children and found that a majority of medical and healthcare practitioners surveyed did use electrotherapy. The decision to use or not use electrotherapy was mainly practitioner-based. There is currently insufficient evidence to support the use of electrotherapy for musculoskeletal lower limb pathologies in children, and the frequency of use of these modalities in children is unknown.