Session Information
Date: Saturday, November 16, 2019
Session Title: Annual Assembly Late Breaking Posters (Non Presentations)
Session Time: 11:15am-12:45pm
Location: Research Hub - Kiosk 8
Disclosures: Tiziano A. Marovino, PT, DPT, MPH, DAAIPM: No financial relationships or conflicts of interest
Objective: To evaluate whether high frequency mechanical vibration in the Pacinian stimulation range (180-250Hz) relieves pain more than electrical stimulation.
Design: Randomized non-blinded crossover trial.
Setting : Outpatient physical therapy.
Participants: 13 females and 7 males aged 25-81 receiving physical therapy for OA (6), sacroiliac dysfunction (2), shoulder injury (5), post-surgery (3), epicondylitis (1), plantar fasciitis (1), fibromyalgia (1), and bone cancer of the spine (1).
Interventions: Patients were consented to receive a 20-minute session of 180-200Hz mechanical oscillatory vibration, 0.1m/s2 amplitude (VibraCool [VC], Pain Care Labs, Atlanta, GA) and/or a generic model-TENS 3000 applied at or very near the site of pain. TENS units used 150Hz frequency with a pulse width of 200ms, asymmetrical biphasic square pulse waveform, and amplitude as high as comfortable on a 0-80mA using a 500-ohm load per channel. The treatment order was randomized; most patients tried the devices on different days. On 2 occasions when TENS was applied first with no relief the VC was applied on the same day.
Main Outcome Measures: Visual analog scale (VAS) pre- and post-therapy pain scores (from 0 for "no pain" to 10 for "most pain possible").
Results: Mean pain relief with VC high frequency vibration was 3.60 +/- 1.60 (95%CI 2.85 to 4.35). Pain relief with TENS was 1.40 +/- 1.05 (95%CI 0.91 to 1.89), with a mean difference of -2.2 +/- 1.34 (95%CI-2.85 to -1.55, P<.0001). Pain relief with VC was greatest for spine, injury and post-surgical pain (5-6) and least for OA (2-3). One patient had no relief with VC (plantar fasciitis); five patients had no relief with TENS (plantar fasciitis, OAx2, shoulder arthralgia, and s/p ORIF).
Conclusions: Mechanical high frequency vibration in the Pacinian corpuscle frequency was superior to electrical stimulation for pain relief, with highest efficacy for injury, post-surgical and spinal conditions.
Level of Evidence: Level I
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
Marovino TA, Baxter A. Crossover Trial of Novel Mechanical Oscillatory Vibration Frequency Device versus TENS for Musculoskeletal Pain [abstract]. PM R. 2019; 11(S2)(suppl 2). https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/crossover-trial-of-novel-mechanical-oscillatory-vibration-frequency-device-versus-tens-for-musculoskeletal-pain/. Accessed May 12, 2025.« Back to AAPM&R Annual Assembly 2019
PM&R Meeting Abstracts - https://pmrjabstracts.org/abstract/crossover-trial-of-novel-mechanical-oscillatory-vibration-frequency-device-versus-tens-for-musculoskeletal-pain/