2023 Volume 30 Issue 1 Pages 67-75
Our previous study revealed that the dysesthesia-matched TENS (DM-TENS) effects for dysesthesias in patients with central nervous system dysfunctions. A total of 8 upper extremity sites with dysesthesias in 5 patients (2 stroke patients, 2 spinal cord injury patients, and 1 multiple sclerosis patient) were included in the study. Multiple-baseline design set with a baseline phase, intervention phase, and follow-up phase of total 28 days. In the intervention phase for 7 days, DM-TENS was applied to upper extremity sites with dysesthesias at 1 hour per day. Patients answered the numerical rating scale for the intensities of subjective dysesthesias every day. The Between-case standardized mean difference (BC-SMD) for the between-case effects and Tau-U for the within-case effects were calculated. In the results of BC-SMD, the dysesthesias were significantly improved by DM-TENS in the intervention and follow-up phases. Moreover, within-case effects were high in all patients during the intervention phase. However, both hands of one spinal cord injury patient did not show significant improvement during the follow-up phase, despite the similar severities of the spinal cord injury and dysesthesias to another patient. Our results suggest the effectiveness of DM-TENS for the dysesthesias caused by central neuropathies. Additional investigation of the factors involved in the intervention effect is needed.
