[The sympathetic-adrenal system during reflex analgesia used in the treatment of a pathological preliminary period].

Effects of reflex analgesia on the activity of the sympathetic-adrenal system (SAS) were examined in pregnant females with an abnormal preliminary period. The status of SAS was judged by the results of urinary epinephrine and norepinephrine excretion tests. A session of reflex analgesia performed by electric acupuncture (3-30 Hz) in the pregnant women with an abnormal preliminary period and relative readiness of the generative passage for labor led to activation of SAS and childbirth induction. A session of combined exposure to electric acupuncture (3-7 Hz) and transcutaneous electric neurostimulation (60-80 Hz) in the pregnant women with a more prolonged preliminary period and unreadiness of the maternal passage for labor caused a decrease in SAS activity, which was followed by a therapeutic rest.