Clinical application of electrotherapy

Although electrical stimulating currents are everyday practices and athletic training students typically receive extensive instruction, little evidence from randomized clinical trials supports the effectiveness of some of these "treatments" on functional outcomes or influencing return to play for athletes. High-voltage pulsed current, if applied immediately after trauma, is as effective as some forms of cryotherapy and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in curbing edema formation in animal models. High-level electrical stimulation is effective in recovering quadriceps strength during early rehabilitation after ACL reconstruction. Of all the proposed indications of electrical stimulation, their use in wound management is supported by basic science and controlled clinical trials.