Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Santa Cruz, RN, Brazil; Graduate Program in Collective Health, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
Federal University of Rio Grande Do Norte, Postgraduate Program in Rehabilitation Sciences, Santa Cruz, RN, Brazil; NAPeN Network (Rede de Núcleos de Assistência e Pesquisa em Neuromodulação), Brazil.
Brain Stimul. 2021 May-Jun;14(3):541-548. doi: 10.1016/j.brs.2021.02.015. Epub 2021 Mar 3.
Thousands of people worldwide have been infected by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV), and the persistence of joint pain symptoms has been considered the main problem. Neuromodulation techniques such as transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) act on brain areas involved in the processing of chronic pain. It was previously demonstrated that tDCS for five consecutive days significantly reduced pain in the chronic phase of chikungunya (CHIK).
To analyze the effect of alternate tDCS sessions on pain and functional capacity in individuals affected by CHIK.
In a randomized clinical trial, 58 women in the chronic phase of CHIK were divided into two groups: active-tDCS (M1-S0, 2 mA, 20 min) and sham-tDCS. The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) were used to assess pain, while the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) assessed functional capacity. These scales were used before and after six sessions of tDCS in nonconsecutive days on the primary motor cortex, and at follow-up consultation 7 and 15 days after the last session. A repeated measures mixed-model ANOVA was used for comparison between groups (significant p-values < 0.05).
A significant pain reduction (Z [3, 171] = 14.303; p < 0.0001) was observed in the tDCS group compared to the sham group; no significant difference in functional capacity was observed (Z [1.57] = 2.797; p = 0.1).
Our results suggest that six nonconsecutive sessions of active tDCS on M1 reduce pain in chronic CHIKV arthralgia.
全世界有成千上万的人感染了基孔肯雅病毒（CHIKV），关节疼痛持续存在被认为是主要问题。神经调节技术，如经颅直流电刺激（tDCS），作用于参与慢性疼痛处理的大脑区域。先前的研究表明，连续五天的 tDCS 可显著减轻基孔肯雅（CHIK）慢性期的疼痛。
分析交替 tDCS 治疗对 CHIK 患者疼痛和功能能力的影响。
在一项随机临床试验中，58 名处于 CHIK 慢性期的女性被分为两组：真刺激 tDCS（M1-S0，2 mA，20 分钟）和假刺激 tDCS。使用视觉模拟量表（VAS）和简要疼痛量表（BPI）评估疼痛，而健康评估问卷（HAQ）评估功能能力。这些量表在非连续日的初级运动皮层进行 6 次 tDCS 前后以及末次治疗后 7 天和 15 天进行评估。采用重复测量混合模型方差分析比较组间差异（显著性 p 值<0.05）。
与假刺激组相比，tDCS 组的疼痛明显减轻（Z [3, 171] = 14.303；p < 0.0001）；功能能力无显著差异（Z [1.57] = 2.797；p = 0.1）。
我们的结果表明，6 次非连续 M1 区真刺激 tDCS 可减轻慢性 CHIKV 关节炎的疼痛。
