Study: Electrical stimulation shown to be effective in treating sleep apnea

Nov 23, 2023

LONDON, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- A battery-powered device often utilized during childbirth that uses electrical impulses to block pain signals was found to improve breathing in patients with obstructive sleep apnea in a clinical trial.

The double-blind, randomized "TESLA" trial by researchers from King's College London and Guy's and St. Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, confirmed that using a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation machine was a potential therapy for the condition, which affects as many as 1 billion people worldwide, according to the study published in the Lancet's eClinical Medicine journal.

People with sleep apnea, most frequently associated with snoring, stop breathing many times during the night, leaving them excessively tired during the day, lacking attention and often with headaches.

Adherence to the widely prescribed continuous positive airway pressure treatment in which air is pumped into a face mask while the patient sleeps is low, with 25% giving up after three months and three-quarters by the five-year mark. Alternatives involve mouth guards that force the lower jaw forward or surgery.

The trial, in which 56 patients with obstructive sleep apnea received either a TENS machine or a CPAP machine, found TENS was a cheap and effective alternative to current therapies. The light and continuous electric stimulation kept patients' airways open while asleep, with the TENS group showing improvements in nocturnal breathing and a significant reduction in daytime exhaustion.

"Not all patients with obstructive sleep apnea are able to use CPAP therapy, often because the mask can be uncomfortable and in severe cases can lead to sleep deprivation," said Joerg Steier, a King's College London respiratory and sleep medicine professor.

"In contrast, a TENS machine is non-invasive, has little side effects and is cheap. The TESLA trial shows us the potential of a new therapeutic option, transcutaneous electrical stimulation, and it will be interesting to see how the method can be used in clinical practice."

The study found that following treatment, the TENS patients had improved scores for hypopnea -- a partial blockage of the airway that results in an airflow reduction of greater than 50% for 10 seconds or more -- and oxygen desaturation compared with the control group, whose scores went in the opposite direction.

The average age of patients in the TENS intervention group was 55.8 years, while the usual treatment control group were older, with an average age of 59.3 years. Men outnumbered women by roughly 2 to 1.

The King's College-Guy's Hospital team of researchers plan to put together a larger multi-center trial to prove the efficacy of the treatment in different healthcare systems.