[Nociceptive afferent blockade by percutaneous peripheral stimulation in the cat].

Experiments have been performed in order to study the effects of percutaneous peripheral stimulation (PCPS) both on the transmission of messages elicited by recruiting sensory units of the tooth pulp at the thalamic Centrum Medianum Level and on the jaw opening reflex (JOR). Both evoked potentials and JOR were inhibited by stimuli applied to the limbs by means of percutaneous (needle) electrodes. Observed inhibitory effects were not immediate: there was a latency period and progressive induction of these phenomena. The site of the inhibition is still unknown, nevertheless, the demonstration that PCPS was able to inhibit both evoked potentials in Centrum Medianum and JOR support the hypothesis that the analgesic effects may be due to descending inhibition blocking transmission of nociceptive information through the spinal cord.