Transcutaneous electrical stimulation and acupuncture: Comparison of treatment for low-back pain

Abstract

The functional behavior of slowly adapting cutaneous mechanoreceptors under combined thermal-mechanical stimulation was investigated by single-unit recordings from the lumbar dorsal roots of the cat. Increased sensitivity to bimodal stimulation was observed in 24 of the 28 units studied, employing stimulus-response functional behavior as the basis for judgment. Low-threshold receptors generally did not exhibit increased spontaneous firing as accompaniment to heightened sensitivity, while such enhanced basal activity was usually observed in moderate-threshold units in addition to increased reactivity. Information theory calculations performed on these stimulus-response data revealed that 15 of the 24 "heat-sensitive" receptors were additionally characterized by an enhanced ability to transmit neural information under bimodal stimulation. These results were interpreted as supporting pattern theories of pain as opposed to the concept of receptor specificity. No contradiction was observed, however, between the present results and those of other investigators. The present conclusions derive from new criteria for thermal reactivity based upon innovative stimulus conditions.

Efficacy of electroacupuncture and tens in the rehabilitation of chronic low back pain patients

“…Although there are several controlled studies which support the efficacy of high intensity acupuncture-like TENS [6,13,16,33,34], subthreshold TENS has been thought to be no better than placebo by Long and Hagfors [27]. This study was also unable to detect any differences between active subthreshold TENS and dead-battery TENS.…”

Acupuncture Treatment of Vasomotor Symptoms in Men With Prostatic Carcinoma: A Pilot Study

“…Electrostimulated acupuncture (EA) and transcutaneous electrical stimulation have previously been compared to manual stimualtion and for a long time these studies have shown somewhat inconclusive results (41,42). When classical acupuncture in later studies was used for treatment of chronic pain, it was found to have more marked effects than superficial needle insertion (43) and low frequency (2Hz) EA to induce a more sustained effect when compared to high frequency (80Hz) EA or "classical" acupuncture (44).…”

The Affective-Motivational Domain of the McGill Pain Questionnaire Discriminates Between Two Distinct Fibromyalgia Patient Subgroups – A Preliminary Study Based on Self-Organizing Maps

“…Due to the ease with which they can be administered and because they are generally easy to comprehend, compliance rates for verbal rating scales are comparable to those obtained for other measures of pain intensity (Jensen et al, 1986(Jensen et al, , 1989. In addition, verbal rating scales are positively co-related to other measures of pain intensity and are sensitive tools to assess treatment outcome (Fox & Melzack, 1976;Ohnhaus & Adler, 1975;Rybstein-Blinchik, 1979), and thus can be considered as valid indicants of pain intensity (Ahles et al, 1984;Downie et al, 1978;Jensen et al, 1986Jensen et al, , 1989Kremer et al, 1981;Littman et al, 1985;Ohnhaus & Adler, 1975;Woodforde & Merskey, 1972). The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) (Chen & Treede, 1985;Dubuisson & Melzack, 1976;Melzack, 1975Melzack, , 1985 is a widely employed verbal pain assessment tool.…”