A clinical study of electric habituation was
undertaken in winter 1997. This study is always in hand.
history
protocol
results
history
To improve quality of the care, we
acquired electrotherapy apparatuses, with constant voltage, in 1995.
Manufacturing advised, to avoid the problems of accommodation, to use the
amplitude or frequency modulation.
During a treatment, having forgotten
to activate the modulations, a patient asked to me whether it were normal that
it does not have any more any current sensation. My initial reaction, was
to check connections and the correct operation of the apparatus. All seemed
to be normal.
It was my first confrontation with
electric accommodation.
How to react?
I decided to increase the amplitude
of the output voltage until the patient perceives, again, a feeling. If the
phenomenon still intervened, the answer would be identical.
We decided to record, if, the
results (name of the patient, tension of beginning and end) on a Excel file,
at
the beginning of 1996. The analysis of the data (1 019 samples) highlighted an
increase (+17%), significant (p<0,0001), and an obvious correlation between
the tension of the beginning and end of care. The data-gathering was modified
in 1997, to take account of the localization of the treatment and the number of
cares. The data complexity and slowness of processing by Excel obliged me
to carry out a software house, at the end of 1997.
The project was carried out under
Delphi 4 and 5, by using the power of the data bases and the flexibility of
SQL queries. The schedule of conditions was as follows:
Individual management of the
patient;
Management of the treatments;
Management of the meetings;
Total management;
regrouping of the data by zone
graphic visualization
distribution
weighting
variations and
percentage
evolution by zone and number of care
protocol
In order to be able to compare,
without dispute, the collected data, it was decided :
to use for all the patients, the
same electrodes (15 cm²).
to use the same frequency of care (60 Hz).
that the patient indicates to the expert, any variation of sensation.
if
the sensation decreases, the expert increases tension to find the preceding
one.
if the feeling is painful, the tension is decreased. The value
of beginning is re-initialized.
The average duration of treatment is 15
minutes.
no measurement is discarded.
results
Today, 07/06/2003, we collected 16 227 measurements:
|
localization |
numbers |
percentage |
|
rachis |
5 769 |
35,55 % |
|
upper limb |
2 927 |
18,04 % |
|
lower limb |
4 323 |
26,64 % |
|
witness |
3 208 |
19,77 % |
|
TOTAL |
16 227 |
100,00 %
|
Distribution of the threshold of
feeling, at the beginning of care.
Distribution of the threshold of
feeling at the end of the care.
Weighting of the thresholds of
feelings, beginning and end of cares.
Evolution according to the number of
care (temporal evolution).
