Clinical physiology (Oxford, England)
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Clinical Trial Controlled Clinical Trial
Study of the effects of various transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) parameters upon the RIII nociceptive and H-reflexes in humans.
Despite over two decades of clinical use, the neurophysiological and anti-nociceptive effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) have yet to be definitively described. The current study was designed to examine the effect of TENS on the RIII nociceptive reflex elicited in healthy human subjects; the H-reflex was measured concomitantly to monitor changes in alpha-motoneuron excitability. Following approval from the university's ethical committee, 50 healthy human volunteers (25 male and 25 female) participated in the study. ⋯ In addition, subjects also rated pain associated with the RIII reflex using a computerized visual analogue scale (VAS). Statistical analysis using two-way repeated-measures ANOVA showed no differences between groups for H-reflex, RIII reflex nor VAS data. These results suggest that TENS does not significantly affect either of the two reflexes, at least using the parameters and application time in the current study.