Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2013 Jul 24;8(7):e70282. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0070282. Print 2013.
Pain has a distinct sensory and affective (i.e., unpleasantness) component. BreEStim, during which electrical stimulation is delivered during voluntary breathing, has been shown to selectively reduce the affective component of post-amputation phantom pain. The objective was to examine whether BreEStim increases pain threshold such that subjects could have improved tolerance of sensation of painful stimuli.
Eleven pain-free healthy subjects (7 males, 4 females) participated in the study. All subjects received BreEStim (100 stimuli) and conventional electrical stimulation (EStim, 100 stimuli) to two acupuncture points (Neiguan and Weiguan) of the dominant hand in a random order. The two different treatments were provided at least three days apart. Painful, but tolerable electrical stimuli were delivered randomly during EStim, but were triggered by effortful inhalation during BreEStim. Measurements of tactile sensation threshold, electrical sensation and electrical pain thresholds, thermal (cold sensation, warm sensation, cold pain and heat pain) thresholds were recorded from the thenar eminence of both hands. These measurements were taken pre-intervention and 10-min post-intervention.
There was no difference in the pre-intervention baseline measurement of all thresholds between BreEStim and EStim. The electrical pain threshold significantly increased after BreEStim (27.5±6.7% for the dominant hand and 28.5±10.8% for the non-dominant hand, respectively). The electrical pain threshold significantly decreased after EStim (9.1±2.8% for the dominant hand and 10.2±4.6% for the non-dominant hand, respectively) (F[1, 10] = 30.992, p = .00024). There was no statistically significant change in other thresholds after BreEStim and EStim. The intensity of electrical stimuli was progressively increased, but no difference was found between BreEStim and EStim.
Voluntary breathing controlled electrical stimulation selectively increases electrical pain threshold, while conventional electrical stimulation selectively decreases electrical pain threshold. This may translate into improved pain control.
疼痛具有明显的感觉和情感（即不愉快）成分。BreEStim 是在自主呼吸时进行电刺激，已被证明可以选择性地降低截肢后幻肢痛的情感成分。目的是检查 BreEStim 是否会增加疼痛阈值，以使患者能够更好地耐受疼痛刺激。
11 名无痛健康受试者（7 名男性，4 名女性）参与了这项研究。所有受试者均以随机顺序在手的两个穴位（内关和外关）接受 BreEStim（100 次刺激）和常规电刺激（EStim，100 次刺激）。两种不同的治疗方法至少相隔三天。在 EStim 期间随机给予可忍受的疼痛电刺激，但在 BreEStim 期间通过用力吸气触发。从双手大鱼际记录触觉阈值、电感觉和电痛阈值、热（冷感、温感、冷痛和热痛）阈值的测量值。这些测量在干预前和干预后 10 分钟进行。
BreEStim 和 EStim 在前测基础测量中，所有阈值均无差异。BreEStim 后电痛阈值显著升高（优势手为 27.5±6.7%，非优势手为 28.5±10.8%）。EStim 后电痛阈值显著降低（优势手为 9.1±2.8%，非优势手为 10.2±4.6%）（F[1, 10] = 30.992，p = 0.00024）。BreEStim 和 EStim 后其他阈值无统计学意义变化。逐渐增加电刺激强度，但 BreEStim 和 EStim 之间无差异。
自主呼吸控制的电刺激选择性地增加了电痛阈值，而常规电刺激选择性地降低了电痛阈值。这可能转化为更好的疼痛控制。
