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Updated: Mar 17, 2026
Murine Excisional Wound Healing Model and Histological Morphometric Wound Analysis
Published on: August 21, 2020
Effect of High- and Low-Frequency Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation on Angiogenesis and Myofibroblast
Aline F P Machado1, Richard E Liebano, Fabianne Furtado
1Aline F. P. Machado, PT, MS, is a Physical Therapist and Student; Richard E. Liebano, PhD, PT, is a Physical Therapist and Professor; Fabianne Furtado, PhD, PT, is a Physical Therapist and Professor; Bernardo Hochman, MD, PhD, was a Physical Therapist and Professor (in memoriam); and Lydia M. Ferreira, MD, PhD, is a Physician and Professor, all in the Division of Plastic Surgery, Federal University of São Paulo (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil.
Objective:
This study evaluated the effects of high- (HF) and low-frequency (LF) transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation on angiogenesis and myofibroblast proliferation in acute excisional wounds in rat skin.
Design:
This was an experimental controlled and randomized study.
Participants:
An excisional wound was made on the back of 90 adult male EPM1-Wistar rats using an 8-mm punch.
Interventions:
The animals were randomly assigned to the HF group (80 Hz), LF group (5 Hz), or control group. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (pulse duration, 200 microseconds; current amplitude, 15 mA) was delivered (session length, 60 minutes) on 3 consecutive days.
Mean Outcome Measure:
Immunohistochemistry was performed on postoperative days 3, 7, and 14 for counting blood vessels and myofibroblasts.
Mean Outcome Results:
The LF group had significantly more blood vessels than the HF group on day 3 (P = .004). The HF group had significantly less blood vessels than did the control group on days 7 (P = .002) and 14 (P = .034) and less myofibroblasts than did both the LF and control groups on day 3 (P = .004) and less than did the control group on day 7 (P = .001).
Conclusion:
There seems to be a benefit to the use of LF transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in the healing of acute excisional wounds, but further studies are warranted.
