Garrison David W, Foreman Robert D
Departments of Physical Therapy and Physiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73190 USA.
Pain. 1994 Sep;58(3):309-315. doi: 10.1016/0304-3959(94)90124-4.
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of TENS application to somatic receptive fields on spontaneous and noxiously evoked dorsal horn cell activity in alpha-chloralose-anesthetized cat. Carbon-filament microelectrodes were used to record extracellular action potentials from 83 spontaneously discharging cells. Using a commercial TENS unit (Medtronic Eclipse Model 7723), spontaneous cell activity was decreased in 54% (65%) of the cells. Twenty-five (30%) did not respond and 4 (5%) increased activity. It was also shown that for 36 cells which were evoked with either manual pinch (19 cells) or manual clamp (17 cells), cell activity decreased during TENS application. This study shows that dorsal horn neurons which can potentially transmit noxious information to supraspinal levels, can have their cell activity decreased during TENS application to somatic receptive fields. This is consistent with the concept of the 'gate control theory of pain' in that less noxious information would be involved in the pain perception process.
本研究旨在探讨经皮电刺激神经疗法（TENS）作用于躯体感受野时，对α-氯醛糖麻醉猫的自发及有害刺激诱发的背角细胞活动的影响。使用碳丝微电极记录83个自发放电细胞的细胞外动作电位。使用商用TENS装置（美敦力Eclipse 7723型），54%（65%）的细胞自发放电活动降低。25个（30%）细胞无反应，4个（5%）细胞活动增加。研究还表明，对于36个经手动捏压（19个细胞）或手动钳夹（17个细胞）诱发的细胞，在施加TENS期间细胞活动降低。本研究表明，可能将有害信息传递至脊髓上水平的背角神经元，在TENS作用于躯体感受野时其细胞活动会降低。这与“疼痛闸门控制理论”的概念一致，即疼痛感知过程中涉及的有害信息会减少。
