• Patric Emerson Oliveira Gonçalves, Matheus Milanez, Ronald Luiz Gomes Flumignan, Jorge Machado, Tulio Pinho Navarro, and Ligia de Loiola Cisneros.
• Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Department of Physical Therapy - Belo Horizonte (MG), Brazil.
• Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2021 Feb 1; 67 (2): 213-217.

ObjectiveTo investigate the efficacy of a short-term application of Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation to relieve rest pain in patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia.MethodsIn patients ³18 years old, with chronic limb-threatening ischemia and rest pain ³3 in the Visual Analogue Scale, without diabetic neuropathy were randomly assigned to 1) Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation (100 Hz, 200 μs) or 2) sham intervention, both during one or two 20 min treatment sessions. The primary outcome was pain intensity, assessed by the visual analogue scale (0-10 cm) and described by the McGill Pain Questionnaire. We used a t-test for difference of means.ResultsA total of 169 patients were assessed, 23 met the study criteria and were randomized. Thirty-four applications were performed in two days: in the 17 Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulation and 17 sham. The within-group analysis indicated a pain decrease in both groups (Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation, from 7-3.9 cm, p<0.0001, and sham from 5.8-3.2 cm, p<0.0001). No statistically significant difference was verified between-groups (p=0.5).ConclusionsBoth groups showed a decrease in rest pain of 54 and 55%, respectively. However, there was no difference between short-term high-frequency Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation and sham intervention to relieve ischemic rest pain in chronic limb-threatening ischemia patients.

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