Changes in Neuropathic Pain Profiles by Dysesthesia-Matched Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation: A Case...

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is widely used to treat neuropathic pain because of its safety, but its therapeutic efficacy is limited. Dysesthesia-matched TENS (DM-TENS) is an innovative intervention that synchronizes TENS parameters with an individual patient's perception of dysesthesia. This case report describes a patient with cervical spinal stenosis whose throbbing pain evolved into dysesthesia. DM-TENS was synchronized with each neuropathic pain profile. Initially, the patient's throbbing pain was rated 8 on a numerical rating scale (NRS), and the pinch force adjustment test (pinch test) showed a 2.58% mean error. DM-TENS synchronized to throbbing pain immediately reduced the NRS to 2 and the pinch test score to 2.06%. On postoperative day (POD) 13, the throbbing pain disappeared and evolved into dysesthesia (NRS 5, pinch test 2.41%). When the DM-TENS parameters were adjusted to match dysesthesia, immediate improvement was also achieved (NRS 0, pinch test 1.69%). By POD 20, the NRS for dysesthesia decreased to 3, and the patient reported high satisfaction. To our knowledge, this is the first case to demonstrate the effectiveness of DM-TENS synchronized with pain characteristics other than dysesthesia, highlighting the potential to broaden its clinical applications.