經皮電刺激術可提供三叉神經痛病人暫時的止痛效果

Application of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation provide temporary pain relief for patients suffering from trigeminal neuralgia

三叉神經痛(TN)是最痛苦與擾人的顱顏神經痛之一，治療TN通常先由藥物開始。如果藥物效果不佳，侵入性的方式如手術介入、神經根燒灼或高頻熱凝法也可以考慮，另外一方面，非侵入式的經皮電刺激術(TENS)已經被報告可以用來做TN 的治療選擇之一，TENS的治療可以明顯改善TN病人並降低藥物使用量，但是很少在台灣與其他東亞國家被報告，因此我們報告二位TN的病人，在使用TENS後，有數週的疼痛改善。

Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) is one of the most troublesome types of craniofacial neuralgia. Treatment for TN usually starts with medication. Invasive procedures such as surgical intervention, ganglion ablation, or radio-frequency thermocoagulation may be considered if medication fails. Non-invasive transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been reported as a treatment option for TN. It has been demonstrated that TENS therapy significantly improves pain relief and reduces the required medication for TN patients. However, such results have seldom been reported for Taiwan and other East Asian countries. This study presents two TN cases and demonstrates the beneficial effects of TENS therapy.