Transcutaneous spinal cord direct current stimulation inhibits the lower limb nociceptive flexion reflex in human beings

Aiming at developing a new, noninvasive approach to spinal cord neuromodulation, we evaluated whether transcutaneous direct current (DC) stimulation induces long-lasting changes in the central pain pathways in human beings. A double-blind crossover design was used to investigate the effects of anodal direct current (2 mA, 15 min) applied on the skin overlying the thoracic spinal cord on the lower-limb flexion reflex in a group of 11 healthy volunteers. To investigate whether transcutaneous spinal cord DC stimulation (tsDCS) acts indirectly on the nociceptive reflex by modulating excitability in mono-oligosynaptic segmental reflex pathways, we also evaluated the H-reflex size from soleus muscle after tibial nerve stimulation. In our healthy subjects, anodal thoracic tsDCS reduced the total lower-limb flexion reflex area by 40.25% immediately after stimulation (T0) and by 46.9% 30 min after stimulation offset (T30). When we analyzed the 2 lower-limb flexion reflex components (RII tactile and RIII nociceptive) separately, we found that anodal tsDCS induced a significant reduction in RIII area with a slight but not significant effect on RII area. After anodal tsDCS, the RIII area decreased by 27% at T0 and by 28% at T30. Both sham and active tsDCS left all the tested H-reflex variables unchanged. None of our subjects reported adverse effects after active stimulation. These results suggest that tsDCS holds promise as a tool that is complementary or alternative to drugs and invasive spinal cord electrical stimulation for managing pain.