Transcutaneous electrical analgesia: a follow-up analysis.

One year follow-up data are analyzed for the effects of using transcutaneous neurostimulators on patients with chronic benign pain. Those who have successful surgery for pain relief have lower pain and analgesic intake levels than those who supplement their surgery with neurostimulation. Those who do not receive surgery for pain but use neurostimulators have greatly increased activity levels than those who do not use these devices. The neurostimulators lower the clinical pain level component of the tourniquet test score for non-surgery patients to a degree comparable to that of patients with successful surgical outcomes, but maximum pain tolerance is not significantly altered. This supports the hypothesis that the analgesic effect is primarily a peripheral one.