Feasibility of using cranial electrotherapy stimulation for pain in persons with parkinson's disease

Objectives. to assess the feasibility of treating musculoskeletal pain in the lower back and/or lower extremities in persons with parkinson's disease (pd) with cranial electrotherapy stimulation (ces). design. randomized,controlled,double-blind trial. setting. veterans affairs medical center,community. participants. nineteen persons with pd and pain in the lower back and/or lower extremities. thirteen provided daily pain rating data. intervention. of the thirteen participants who provided daily pain data,6 were randomly provided with active ces devices and 7 with sham devices to use at home 40 minutes per day for six weeks. they recorded their pain ratings on a 0-to-10 scale immediately before and after each session. main outcome measure. average daily change in pain intensity. results. persons receiving active ces had,on average,a 1.14-point decrease in pain compared with a 0.23-point decrease for those receiving sham ces (wilcoxon z=-2.20,p=.028). conclusion. use of ces at home by persons with pd is feasible and may be somewhat helpful in decreasing pain. a larger study is needed to determine the characteristics of persons who may experience meaningful pain reduction with ces. guidelines for future studies are provided. copyright © 2010 diana h. rintala et al.