A comparison of the analgesic efficacy of medium-frequency alternating current and TENS

Abstract Objective To compare the analgesic efficacy of burst-modulated medium-frequency alternating current (BMAC) and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) using an experimental cold pain model. Design Within-group crossover study. Setting A university research laboratory. Participant...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physiotherapy 2009-12, Vol.95 (4), p.280-288
Main Authors: Ward, Alex R, Lucas-Toumbourou, Stacey, McCarthy, Brigid
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Analgesia - methods
Analgesics
Analysis of Variance
Cold pain
Cold Temperature
Confidence intervals
Cross-Over Studies
Efficacy
Experimental pain
Female
Humans
Hypoalgesia
Interventions
Male
Pain
Pain Measurement
Pain Threshold - physiology
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Thresholds
Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation - methods
Transcutaneous nerve stimulation
Young Adult
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Summary:Abstract Objective To compare the analgesic efficacy of burst-modulated medium-frequency alternating current (BMAC) and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) using an experimental cold pain model. Design Within-group crossover study. Setting A university research laboratory. Participants Twenty healthy subjects. Interventions BMAC (4-kHz AC applied in 4-millisecond bursts at 50 Hz) and TENS (125-microsecond phase duration applied at a frequency of 50 Hz) administered to each participant on separate occasions. Main outcome measure Time to cold pain threshold. Results The mean time to cold pain threshold with the BMAC intervention was no different than with TENS. Statistical analysis showed that both interventions elevated the cold pain threshold significantly [BMAC: increase = 15.2 seconds, 97.5% confidence interval (CI) 3.1 to 27.2, P = 0.01; TENS: increase = 15.4 seconds, 97.5%CI 2.5 to 28.4, P = 0.02], and the difference between interventions was not simply insignificant but the intervention effects were ‘significantly the same’ (mean difference = 0.3 seconds, 95%CI −15.3 to 15.9, P = 0.97). Conclusions BMAC is as effective as TENS in increasing cold pain thresholds in healthy subjects. Since BMAC has been shown to be more comfortable than TENS in previous studies and is likely to be better accepted and tolerated by patients, clinical investigation is warranted.
ISSN:0031-9406
1873-1465
DOI:10.1016/j.physio.2009.06.005