Artículos de revistas
Transcranial DC Stimulation Coupled With TENS for the Treatment of Chronic Pain A Preliminary Study
Fecha
2009Registro en:
CLINICAL JOURNAL OF PAIN, v.25, n.8, p.691-695, 2009
0749-8047
Autor
BOGGIO, Paulo S.
AMANCIO, Edson J.
CORREA, Clauo F.
CECILIO, Sofia
VALASEK, Claudia
BAJWA, Zahid
FREEDMAN, Steven D.
PASCUAL-LEONE, Alvaro
EDWARDS, Dylan J.
FREGNI, Felipe
Institución
Resumen
Objective: Based on evidence showing that electrical stimulation of the nervous system is an effective method to decrease chronic neurogenic pain, we aimed to investigate whether the combination of 2 methods of electrical stimulation-a method of peripheral stimulation [transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)] and a method of noninvasive brain stimulation (transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)]-induces greater pain reduction as compared with tDCS alone and sham stimulation. Methods: We performed a preliminary, randomized, sham-controlled, crossover, clinical study in which 8 patients were randomized to receive active tDCS/active TENS (""tDCS/TENS"" group), active tDCS/sham TENS (""tDCS"" group), and sham tDCS/sham TENS (""sham"" group) stimulation. Assessments were performed immediately before and after each condition by a blinded rater. Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference in pain reduction across the conditions Of stimulation (P = 0.006). Post hoc tests showed significant pain reduction as compared with baseline after the tDCS/TENS condition [reduction by 36.5% (+/- 10.7), P = 0.004] and the tDCS condition [reduction by 15.5% (+/- 4.9), P = 0.014], but not after sham stimulation (P = 0.35). In addition, tDCS/TENS induced greater pain reduction than tDCS (P = 0.02). Conclusions: The results of this pilot study suggest that the combination of TENS with tDCS has a superior effect compared with tDCS alone.