In this study, the effect of TENS applied to patients undergoing open colorectal surgery on bowel functions, pain and analgesia consumption amount will be evaluated.

Colorectal cancers, inflammatory colon diseases, colorectal diseases for which medical treatment cannot be successful, diverticula, perforation, obstruction, etc. These conditions are among the conditions requiring colorectal surgical treatment. Colorectal cancer is the most common reason for colorectal surgery and causes illness and death all over the world. Conditions that cause pain in colorectal surgery: Painful drainage in perianal fistulas, hemorrhoidal diseases, perianal hernia, ulcerative colitis, surgical interventions, stoma and peristomal skin complications. In addition, patients experience serious pain when there is more than one source of pain due to the size of the incision area, cutting of skin and muscles, nerve damage, etc. When evaluated numerically, the pain experienced after surgery increases up to 8 out of 10, especially in the first 24 hours, and decreases below 4 after the 72nd hour. In cases where severe pain is not adequately controlled, patients do not want to move and the digestive system causes a decline in intestinal functions due to decreased blood flow. For effective pain management, pain should be questioned constantly, its location and spread, character (noiceptive, neuropathic, visceral), severity, duration (continuous, intermittent, paroxysmal), factors that increase or decrease, symptoms accompanying the pain, symptoms caused by the pain, previous treatments. The reasons that prevent the evaluation of the response and pain should be determined and patient-specific pain management should be planned.

In addition, strong opioids such as morphine and talinate, which are administered in high doses for pain treatment, cause the bowel functions to slow down and increase the rates of paralytic ileus, constipation and distension. In this context, the multimodal analgesia approach, in which more than one method is used, provides more effective pain control than a single analgesia approach and also reduces the complication rates in bowel functions.

It is a non-invasive and safe analgesic method in gastrointestinal surgery that acts through multiple mechanisms. In the nursing regulation published in 2011, independent, semi-dependent and dependent roles of nurses were defined. TENS should be applied in the postoperative period to provide effective analgesia, reduce the use of pharmacological analgesics, and improve the patients bowel functions in the early period. The mechanism of action of TENS on the body is explained by two types of mechanisms. Since nurses, who have a key role in pain management, do not have the authority to decide on the type and dose of analgesic medication to be administered, their role in pain management is limited, but nurses. If there is more than one source of pain due to the size of the incision area, cutting of skin and muscles, nerve damage, etc., patients experience serious pain and regression in bowel functions due to pain.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Those over 18 years of age,
• Able to communicate verbally,
• Those who have undergone colorectal open surgery,
• American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) evaluation I, II, III,
• As a result of evaluation by the physician, there is no harm in applying TENS,
• Patients who agreed to participate in the study voluntarily were included in the sample group.

Exclusion Criteria:

• In need of mechanical ventilation,
• Having an infected wound in the surgery area,
• Having undergone rectal surgery,
• Using opioids before surgery,
• Previous history of chronic pain, alcohol or drug addiction,
• Those with cognitive and mental disabilities,
• Those with a pacemaker and arrhythmia,
• Epidural analgesia/patient-controlled analgesia was applied in the postoperative period,

18 years and over

Hospital approval is awaited for the study, and after approval, the data collection phase will begin.