Peripheral nerve stimulation in the management of dysmenorrhea

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Abstract
Electrical stimulation of radial, median and saphenous nerves produces analgesia in patients with dysmenorrhea, whereas control stimulation in adjacent points does not. Pain relief is not reversed by naloxone, and patients experience permanent analgesia after 10 consecutive daily treatments. A follow-up of patients treated for surgically documented gynecological pain due to endometriosis shows them to be pain-free 5 yr after cessation of treatment, as measured by verbal report, attendance at work, and analgesic abstinence. This represents the 1st such long-term follow-up in the clinical pain literature, and suggests that peripheral nerve stimulation may be useful in the treatment of dysmenorrhea.