Abstract
Objectives
This study aims to determine temperature effect on nerve conduction block induced
by high-frequency (kHz) biphasic stimulation (HFBS).
Materials and Methods
Frog sciatic nerve-muscle preparation was immersed in Ringer’s solution at a temperature
of 15 or 20 °C. To induce muscle contractions, a bipolar cuff electrode delivered
low-frequency (0.25 Hz) stimulation to the nerve. To induce nerve block, a tripolar
cuff electrode was placed distal to the bipolar cuff electrode to deliver HFBS (2
or 10 kHz). A bipolar hook electrode distal to the blocking electrode was used to
confirm that the nerve block occurred locally at the site of HFBS. A thread tied onto
the foot was attached to a force transducer to measure the muscle contraction force.
Results
At 15 °C, both 2- and 10-kHz HFBSs elicited an initial transient muscle contraction
and then produced nerve block during the stimulation (ie, acute block), with the 10
kHz having a significantly (p < 0.001) higher acute block threshold (5.9 ± 0.8 mA peak amplitude) than the 2 kHz
(1.9 ± 0.3 mA). When the temperature was increased to 20 °C, the acute block threshold
for the 10-kHz HFBS was significantly (p < 0.0001) decreased from 5.2 ± 0.3 to 4.4 ± 0.2 mA, whereas the 2-kHz HFBS induced
a tonic muscle contraction during the stimulation but elicited nerve block after terminating
the 2-kHz HFBS (ie, poststimulation block) with an increased block duration at a higher
stimulation intensity.
Conclusion
Temperature has an important influence on HFBS-induced nerve block. The blocking mechanisms
underlying acute and poststimulation nerve blocks are likely to be very different.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 18, 2021
Accepted:
October 12,
2021
Received in revised form:
September 5,
2021
Received:
June 21,
2021
Footnotes
Source(s) of financial support: This study is funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (grant number R01NS109198).
Conflict of Interest: Changfeng Tai is an inventor of a patent application related to this study. The remaining authors reported no conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 International Neuromodulation Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
