TENS for Testicular Pain (ICO): A Randomized Controlled Trial
Public ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT04866784. Field values are reproduced from the official study page; the official ClinicalTrials.gov record remains the source of truth for eligibility, enrollment, and contact information.
Data is sourced from official ClinicalTrials.gov public API records. Always review the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for the latest information.
Official title
TENS for Patients With Chronic Testicular Pain (ICO)
Brief summary
Reproduced verbatim from the official ClinicalTrials.gov record. Not medical advice.
Idiopathic Chronic Orchialgia (i.e., testicular pain) is a challenging condition to treat, with unresolved testicular pain leading to distress, diminished activities of daily living and decreased quality of life. Testicular Pain may be caused by a tumor, hernia, infection, trauma, vein compression, cysts, and/or postoperative or radiating pain, though is often times unknown. Non-pharmacologic, conservative pain reduction interventions include heat, ice, scrotal support, physical therapy, and/or counseling, and should often be used as first line of defense. More aggressive, invasive, and non-conservative medical treatment options include medications, nerve blocks, and/or surgery, each of which may be effective, but may be invasive and/or cause serious side effects. However, there is no standard of care for managing the testicular pain and many men do not respond to current biomedical or nonpharmacologic treatment options. Novel, non-invasive treatment options are needed for ICO to improve distress, daily living activities, and quality of life. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non-pharmacologic intervention for acute and chronic pain. This treatment involves the application of electric current through the skin; it is safe, easy to use, and inexpensive. Despite the impact and distress associated with Testicular Pain, only one known study examined the efficacy of TENS for this condition. A 2018 double-blind, randomized controlled study of people with Testicular Pain reported that TENS improved pain and quality of life significantly more than the control condition (analgesia only). This 2018 study lacked a placebo control condition (i.e., unknown whether pain relief was due to the placebo effect, where knowing an intervention is happening leads to an expectation that pain will decrease, and therefore pain perception decreases independent of the intervention). Thus, the aim of this study is to examine the efficacy of TENS on Testicular Pain using a randomized, placebo-controlled design. The results of this study will be used to inform a larger, federally-funded study. i. Primary Aim: To assess the efficacy of TENS for Testicular Pain ii. Secondary Aim: To assess the feasibility of TENS for Testicular Pain iii. Third Aim: To assess the tolerability of TENS for Testicular Pain iii. To assess associations between dispositional pain catastrophizing on responsiveness to the TENS intervention.
Study identification
- NCT ID
- NCT04866784
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Enrollment
- 8 participants
Conditions and interventions
Conditions
Eligibility (public fields only)
- Age range
- 18 Years to 99 Years
- Sex
- Male
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepts healthy volunteers
This page does not interpret eligibility. Detailed inclusion and exclusion criteria are on the official ClinicalTrials.gov record.
Study timeline
- Start date
- Dec 22, 2020
- Primary completion
- May 31, 2022
- Completion
- May 31, 2022
- Last update posted
- Jun 22, 2022
2020 – 2022
United States locations
- U.S. sites
- 1
- U.S. states
- 1
- U.S. cities
- 1
| Facility | City | State | ZIP | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Iowa | Iowa City | Iowa | 52242 | — |
Site contact phone numbers, emails, and investigator names are intentionally not displayed here. Open the official ClinicalTrials.gov record for site contact information.
About this trial record page
- What this page shows
- Public field values for ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT04866784, including study identification, conditions, interventions, eligibility (age, sex, healthy volunteer), timeline, and U.S. site list.
- What this page does not do
- No medical advice, eligibility judgments, treatment recommendations, study quality scoring, or AI-generated medical summaries. No site contact phone numbers, emails, or investigator names.
- Where the data comes from
- Sourced from the official ClinicalTrials.gov public API. The official record is the source of truth.
- Last refresh
- Last update posted Jun 22, 2022 · Synced Sep 2, 2026
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Open the official record
The complete protocol, eligibility criteria, and contact information for NCT04866784 live on ClinicalTrials.gov.