Clinical physiology and functional imaging
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Clin Physiol Funct Imaging · May 2002
Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical TrialA single-blind placebo-controlled investigation into the analgesic effects of interferential currents on experimentally induced ischaemic pain in healthy subjects.
The aim of this single-blind placebo-controlled study was to examine the analgesic effects of interferential currents (IFC) on experimentally induced ischaemic pain. Ischaemic pain was induced using the submaximal effort tourniquet technique (SETT) and pain intensity was recorded using a visual analogue scale at 1-min intervals was used as the primary outcome measure. Following baseline recordings 30 healthy volunteers received either active IFC, sham IFC, or no treatment (10 subjects per group). ⋯ There were significant effects for Groups (P=0.04) which were attributed to a significant reduction in pain intensity for the IFC group when compared with sham and no-treatment control (P< or =0.05). There were no significant effects for Time (P=0.69) or Group-Time interaction (P=0.45). In conclusion, IFC produced significantly greater analgesia than sham and no-treatment control groups under the present experimental conditions.