Contralateral Antalgic Effect of High‐Frequency Transcutaneous Peripheral Nerve Stimulation

Buonocore, Michelangelo; Camuzzini, Nereo; Dall'Angelo, Anna; Mandrini, Silvia; Toffola, Elena Dalla

doi:10.1016/j.pmrj.2014.06.012

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, local stimulation, i.e., chronic electrical stimulation on the facial nerve induced hyperactivity of the facial nucleus ( 45 ), which may aggravate spasms. In terms of pain relief, local and distal stimulation with acupuncture ( 46 ), transcutaneous peripheral nerve stimulation ( 47 ), or vibratory stimulation ( 48 ) also showed a strong analgesic effect, but differed in stimulus parameters, such as intensity and frequency ( 47 , 48 ). What's more, stimuli at distal or local acupoints can change the excitability in specific brain regions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electroacupuncture on Hemifacial Spasm and Temporomandibular Joint Pain Co-Morbidity: A Case Report

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Hemifacial spasm (HFS) and temporomandibular joint (TMJ) pain are common facial diseases which cause depression, anxiety, insomnia, and poor quality of life. However, currently there are still no effective therapies to treat HFS and TMJ. Electroacupuncture (EA) has advantages of safety, rapid work, easy operation and convenience. Here, we reported a case of a 50-year-old woman who presented with irregular spasm of eyelids and facial muscles on the left side, and TMJ pain on the right side. The patient had been treated with carbamazepine (20mg per day) and alternative therapies for a year, but still not much improvement in the symptoms. The scores of the Jankovic Rating Scale (JRS), global rating scale (GRS), and visual analog scale (VAS) were 7, 60, and 7 points, respectively. The EMG test showed that the spastic side had higher R1 amplitude, longer R2 duration, and larger R2 area than the non-spasmodic side, and the occurrence rate of the lateral spread responses (LSR) in the Orbicularis oris and the Orbicularis oculi muscle was 60% and 40%, respectively. We considered this patient had left HFS and right TMJ pain. EA was successfully undertaken for two periods over 30 weeks. After EA, JRS and VAS were reduced sharply, and the symptoms of HFS were stable without recurrence. However, the frequency of the lower eyelid increased gradually during the 6-month follow-up. These findings reveal that EA with the frequency of 2 Hz and intensity of ~ 1–2 mA may be a benefit for alleviating symptoms of HFS and TMJ pain without adverse reaction. The potential mechanisms of EA in HFS and TMJ pain co-morbidity involve brain stem mechanism and DNIC mechanism for distal acupuncture and segmental mechanism for local acupuncture analgesia.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electroacupuncture on Hemifacial Spasm and Temporomandibular Joint Pain Co-Morbidity: A Case Report

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It was reported that subcutaneous electrical stimulation reduced not only ipsilateral but also contralateral spontaneous and evoked activity of nociceptive dorsal horn cells (Garrison & Foreman, 2002). Studies of healthy humans also revealed that TENS administration reduced pressure pain and heat pain on the contralateral side (Buonocore, Camuzzini, Dall'Angelo, Mandrini, & Toffola, 2015;Claydon et al, 2008). However, the analgesic mechanisms underlying contralateral TENS remain unclear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contralateral segmental transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation inhibits nociceptive flexion reflex in healthy participants

Takiguchi

Shomoto

2019

European Journal of Pain

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a non‐invasive treatment to relieve pain. Contralateral TENS (i.e. TENS administered to the contralateral side of a painful body part) is beneficial when TENS cannot be directly applied to pain site, such as in cases of trauma. Although TENS produces segmental analgesia in an ipsilateral limb, it has been unclear whether TENS produces higher analgesic effects in the contralateral segmental area. The aim of the present study was to investigate the analgesic effects of TENS in contralateral segmental or extra‐segmental areas on physiological and subjective pain outcomes, using a nociceptive flexion reflex (NFR) method. Methods We randomly allocated 60 healthy participants to three groups: contralateral segmental TENS (CS‐TENS); contralateral extra‐segmental TENS (CE‐TENS); and contralateral placebo TENS (CP‐TENS). CS‐TENS was applied to right superficial sural nerve and CE‐TENS was applied to the right superficial femoral nerve, each for 30 minutes. The magnitude of the NFR elicited by electrical stimulation of the left sural nerve was measured at baseline and at three subsequent 10‐minute intervals. Subjective pain intensity was measured simultaneously with a visual analogue scale (VAS). Results At 30 min, the NFR magnitude of CS‐TENS group was significantly lower than that of the CP‐TENS group (p = 0.021). There were no significant differences in VAS scores among the groups at any time point. Conclusions Our findings suggest that CS‐TENS inhibited NFR. Although there was no significant between‐group difference in subjective pain intensity, factors such as a placebo effect probably impacted it. Significance Our findings provide support for the contralateral approach at stimulation sites when TENS cannot be directly administered to a pain site (e.g. due to disease or trauma).

show abstract

“…Additional studies using experimental human-pain models have shown that TENS applied to one side of the body evokes an analgesic response in the homologous region on the contralateral side. 28,113,114,[117][118][119][120][121][122] Buonocore et al showed that TENS applied to the cutaneous distribution of the superficial radial nerve increased the heat-pain threshold in the dorsal hand bilaterally. 117 Lehmann and Strian showed that both ipsilateral and contralateral TENS reduced tonic thermal pain relative to placebo.…”

Section: Experimental Human Painmentioning

confidence: 99%

<p>Remote Analgesic Effects Of Conventional Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation: A Scientific And Clinical Review With A Focus On Chronic Pain</p>

Gozani

2019

JPR

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a safe, noninvasive treatment for chronic pain that can be self-administered. Conventional TENS involves stimulation of peripheral sensory nerves at a strong, non-painful level. Following the original gate-control theory of pain, stimulation is typically near the target pain. As another option, remote stimulation may also be effective and offers potential advantages. Objective: This narrative review examines mechanisms underlying the remote analgesic effects of conventional TENS and appraises the clinical evidence. Methods: A literature search for English-language articles was performed on PubMed. Keywords included terms related to the location of TENS. Citations from primary references and textbooks were examined for additional articles. Results: Over 30 studies reported remote analgesic effects of conventional TENS. The evidence included studies using animal models of pain, experimental pain in humans, and clinical studies in subjects with chronic pain. Three types of remote analgesia were identified: at the contralateral homologous site, at sites distant from stimulation but innervated by overlapping spinal segments, and at unrelated extrasegmental sites. Conclusion: There is scientific and clinical evidence that conventional TENS has remote analgesic effects. This may occur through modulation of pain processing at the level of the dorsal horn, in brainstem centers mediating descending inhibition, and within the pain matrix. A broadening of perspectives on how conventional TENS produces analgesia may encourage researchers, clinicians, and medical-device manufacturers to develop novel ways of using this safe, cost-effective neuromodulation technique for chronic pain.

show abstract

Contralateral Antalgic Effect of High‐Frequency Transcutaneous Peripheral Nerve Stimulation

Abstract: The present study demonstrates an analgesic effect of HF-TPNS not only in the ipsilateral but also in the contralateral side of stimulation, suggesting a possible role of contralateral HF-TPNS in the treatment by physical therapy of patients with unilateral pain syndromes.

Cited by 5 publications

References 23 publications

Electroacupuncture on Hemifacial Spasm and Temporomandibular Joint Pain Co-Morbidity: A Case Report

Electroacupuncture on Hemifacial Spasm and Temporomandibular Joint Pain Co-Morbidity: A Case Report

Contralateral segmental transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation inhibits nociceptive flexion reflex in healthy participants

<p>Remote Analgesic Effects Of Conventional Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation: A Scientific And Clinical Review With A Focus On Chronic Pain</p>

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About