O'Brien W J, Rutan F M, Sanborn C, Omer G E
Phys Ther. 1984 Sep;64(9):1367-74. doi: 10.1093/ptj/64.9.1367.
We randomly assigned 42 subjects for treatment with transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) to one of three groups: conventional TENS--80 Hz; low frequency TENS--2 Hz; and a control group--TENS without batteries. Pain threshold measurements and blood beta-endorphin levels were obtained at regular intervals before, during, and for 17 hours after TENS application. We found no significant difference in blood beta-endorphin levels between the groups before, during, or immediately after TENS application. The differences in pain threshold and beta-endorphin levels appeared to be a function of the patient-selection process and not the application of TENS. The results indicated that TENS, with the stimulation characteristics used in this study, did not significantly change the measured plasma levels of beta-endorphin. The blind administration of naloxone hydrochloride, an opiate antagonist, did not significantly alter the perceived experimental pain of these subjects. We could find no evidence that TENS altered experimental pain threshold or plasma beta-endorphin levels.
我们将42名接受经皮电神经刺激（TENS）治疗的受试者随机分为三组：传统TENS组（80赫兹）；低频TENS组（2赫兹）；以及对照组（无电池的TENS）。在TENS应用前、应用期间以及应用后17小时，定期测量疼痛阈值和血液中β-内啡肽水平。我们发现在TENS应用前、应用期间或应用后即刻，各组之间血液中β-内啡肽水平无显著差异。疼痛阈值和β-内啡肽水平的差异似乎是患者选择过程的作用，而非TENS的应用。结果表明，本研究中使用的具有刺激特性的TENS并未显著改变所测得的血浆β-内啡肽水平。阿片类拮抗剂盐酸纳洛酮的盲法给药并未显著改变这些受试者所感知的实验性疼痛。我们找不到证据表明TENS改变了实验性疼痛阈值或血浆β-内啡肽水平。
