title: Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation and placental vascularization in cases of uterine blood flow restriction.
abstract: Studies report transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) as a treatment for placental insufficiency. To induce utero-placental insufficiency in rats, the uterine artery was ligated. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation was applied with a frequency of 80 Hz, pulse duration of 200 μs, and low intensity. Placental blood vessels were analyzed after immunohistochemistry. The number, caliber and area occupied by placental vessels, fetal weight and length, and placental volume were lower in cases stimulated by TENS. The interaction between ligation and stimulation by TENS was associated with reduction of all these measurements, suggesting that TENS use during pregnancy may have harmful effects on intra-uterine development.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of General Pathology, Biological Sciences Department, Triângulo Mineiro Federal University, Uberaba, Brazil.
authors.forename: Camila Souze
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: de Oliveira Guimarães
authors.forename: Fabíola Cristina
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Santos Tavares
authors.forename: Marília Neves
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Gregório Corrêa
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Guimarães
authors.forename: Janaínna Grazielle
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Pacheco Olegário
authors.forename: Laura Penna
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.forename: Luiz Carlos
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: Marlene Antônia
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dos Reis
authors.forename: Eumenia Costa
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: da Cunha Castro
authors.forename: Rosana Rosa
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Miranda Corrêa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D010920:Placenta / Q000098:blood supply*; D010927:Placental Insufficiency / Q000628:therapy*; D011247:Pregnancy; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D004561:Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation