ABSTRACT
Ischaemic pain was induced in two groups of subjects. The pain was initially assessed using the McGill Pain Questionnaire and then by recall 7 days later. The pain experienced by a group of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis was similarly assessed before and after rehabilitatory surgery. Memory for the single episode of ischaemic pain was superior to that for the chronic rheumatoid pain.
Subject(s)
Arthritis, Rheumatoid/psychology , Forearm/blood supply , Ischemia/psychology , Memory , Mental Recall , Pain/psychology , Adult , Arthritis, Rheumatoid/surgery , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Psychological Tests , Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation/psychologyABSTRACT
Haemophiliacs suffer considerable pain when they bleed into their joints. This study investigated the use of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for relief of such pain. Thirty-six haemophiliac patients received either active or placebo TENS treatment. The intensity of pain was assessed before and after treatment using the McGill Pain Questionnaire. After 25 min of active treatment, 71% of the subjects reported at least 50% pain relief as measured by the McGill Pain Questionnaire. This compares with only 25% pain relief experienced by the placebo group.
Subject(s)
Electric Stimulation Therapy , Hemarthrosis/physiopathology , Hemophilia A/physiopathology , Pain Management , Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation , Adult , Evaluation Studies as Topic , Hemophilia A/complications , Humans , Random AllocationABSTRACT
Endurance to ischaemic pain was assessed in healthy subjects receiving either continuous or trains of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) at different intensity levels. Control subjects received no stimulation. Self-reports of pain thresholds and pain tolerance levels were obtained, and on-going pain was assessed by means of two linear pain scales. At the end of each trial, descriptions of intolerable pain were obtained using the McGill Pain Questionnaire. High intensity continuous stimulation raised pain tolerances and endurance of pain, but was associated with higher levels of reported pain when tolerance was reached. Low intensity trains of stimulation raised pain thresholds and tolerance levels but did not increase endurance to induced ischaemic pain. Our results suggest that the response to induced ischaemic pain can be selectively modified by peripheral electrical stimulation depending on its temporal and intensity characteristics.
