Chang Yu-Cheng, Chao Yuan-Ping, Chang Shin-Tsu
Department of Medical Research and Education, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Department of Clinical Education, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, Chiayi, Taiwan.
Heliyon. 2024 Feb 1;10(3):e25176. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e25176. eCollection 2024 Feb 15.
Foot drop still occurs in clinical practice, including in our case. Treatments for foot drop vary based on its etiology and severity of symptoms. Hence, in intractable foot drop cases, an invasive surgical intervention is needed. Here, we introduce a special noninvasive technique to treat our patient's foot drop. In this approach, we applied STIMPOD NMS460 neuromuscular stimulator device (STIMPOD NMS460), which is a low-frequency (10 Hz or less) transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) device with a pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) component. We are eager to know how effective the device is in treating foot drop, and we compared it with two kinds of surgical interventions.
The device settings are 5 Hz in frequency and 30mA in current amplitude. The device was applied on her left side at the L4 and L5 regions and at the fibular head. Each therapy session consists of individual 15-min treatments on these two body areas, and it only takes a total of 30 minutes. We recorded the change in ankle dorsiflexion degrees and muscle strength of our patient.
To our surprise, our patient's actual treatment status through STIMPOD NMS460 showed more effective recovery and no specific side effects than surgical interventions in similar conditions. Besides, after a three-month intervention, her affected ankle dorsiflexion recovered to almost her usual status. The reason why this device has such an effect may be that it has the benefits of TENS and PRF. Besides, some studies have revealed the nerve-repair effect of TENS and PRF. In conclusion, we believe that this device is fairly promising and may be qualified to be used in other patients with foot drop.
足下垂在临床实践中仍然存在，包括我们的病例。足下垂的治疗方法因其病因和症状严重程度而异。因此，在难治性足下垂病例中，需要进行侵入性手术干预。在此，我们介绍一种特殊的非侵入性技术来治疗我们患者的足下垂。在这种方法中，我们应用了STIMPOD NMS460神经肌肉刺激器设备（STIMPOD NMS460），它是一种具有脉冲射频（PRF）组件的低频（10赫兹或更低）经皮电神经刺激（TENS）设备。我们渴望了解该设备在治疗足下垂方面的效果如何，并将其与两种手术干预进行了比较。
设备设置为频率5赫兹，电流幅度30毫安。该设备应用于她左侧的L4和L5区域以及腓骨头。每次治疗疗程包括在这两个身体部位各进行15分钟的单独治疗，总共只需30分钟。我们记录了患者踝关节背屈角度和肌肉力量的变化。
令我们惊讶的是，与类似情况下的手术干预相比，我们的患者通过STIMPOD NMS460进行的实际治疗状况显示出更有效的恢复且无特定副作用。此外，经过三个月的干预，她受影响的踝关节背屈恢复到几乎正常状态。该设备产生这种效果的原因可能是它具有TENS和PRF的优点。此外，一些研究已经揭示了TENS和PRF的神经修复作用。总之，我们认为该设备相当有前景，可能有资格用于其他足下垂患者。
