Name: AÉBE ALVES TORRES
Publication date: 24/10/2022
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| FERNANDO ZANELA DA SILVA AREAS | Advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| FERNANDO ZANELA DA SILVA AREAS | Advisor * |
| LÍVIA CARLA DE MELO RODRIGUES | Internal Examiner * |
Summary: Fibromyalgia (FM) is a disease characterized by chronicwidespread pain, associated with other disorders, including functional,emotional,and autonomic disorders. Vagus nerve, the main component of theparasympathetic nervous system, has analgesic and anti-inflammatoryproperties, leading a fundamental role in pain modulation. Objective: To verifythe effect ofthecombiningof manual therapy techniques applied to the vagus nerve (MTVN) with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on pain inwomen with FM. Methods: A randomized, controlled, single-blind, intention-to-treat clinical trial was carried out in which 31 women with FM were allocated toINTERVENTION (tDCS + active MTVN) or CONTROL (active tDCS + MTVNSHAM) groups. Five interventions were performed on consecutive days.Initially, tDCS was applied and then MTVN. Outcome measures were takenbefore the intervention, at the end of the protocol (fiveinterventions) and 30 dayslater. Results: For pain variant, interaction effect was neither detected betweenthe factors [F (2;58) = 0.188; p = 0.829; effect size (ES)= 0.006] nor between the groups [F(1;29) = 0.928; p = 0.343; ES= 0.031]. Throughout the protocol, a significantintragroup effect was detected, confirmed by the Bonferroni test in the pre-treatment conditions and after fivedays of intervention (Average difference (AD)= -1.19, p = 0.019).For fatigue, no significant effect was detected for the groups [F (1;9) = 0.064; p= 0.802; ES= 0.002] and no significant intragroup effect was detected along theprotocol [F (2;58) = 1.364; p = 0.264; TE = 0.045]. Regardingsleep, there wasno interaction between groups [F (2;58) = 0.343; p = 0.711; ES= 0.12]. TheBonferroni test detected a reduction in the score between pre-treatment andafter fivedays (AD= -3 .29, p< 0.001) and 30 days (AD= -2.34, p = 0.072) ofintervention, but not between fiveand 30 days after the intervention (AD = 0.95, p= 0.072). Conclusion: Adding MTNV to tDCS was not superior to a sham procedure in pain intensity, fatigue andsleep quality in women with FM.
