[Treatment of patients with facial hemispasm by transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation]

Fifty-two patients (aged 15 to 78 years) suffering from facial hemispasm were treated by transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS). For this purpose electric-impulse apparatuses generating bipolar nonsymmetrical impulses were employed. The employment of TENS eliminated hyperkinesis for a period of several minutes to several hours. Interparoxysmal intervals lengthened and hyperkinesis became less pronounced. After a TENS session EMG showed no spontaneous activity in the form of "volleys of oscillations". A possible mechanism of TENS therapeutic effect in facial hemispasm is discussed.