Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2025, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (14): 3061-3069.doi: 10.12307/2025.620

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Different frequencies of electrical stimulation promote recovery from peripheral nerve injury

Liu Minqi1, Gao Mingwei1, Chu Xiaolei2, Xing Zheng2, Li Shihao2, Ding Ning1, Li Yajie1, Li Qi2     

  • Received:2024-05-30 Accepted:2024-07-15 Online:2025-05-18 Published:2024-09-29
  • Contact: Li Qi, MS, Associate chief physician, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Tianjin University Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin 300211, China
  • About author:1College of Exercise & Health, Tianjin University of Sport, Tianjin 301617, China; 2Department of Rehabilitation, Tianjin University Tianjin Hospital, Tianjin 300211, China Liu Minqi, Master candidate, College of Exercise & Health, Tianjin University of Sport, Tianjin 301617, China
  • Supported by:
    the National Key Research and Development Program of China under the Key Special Project of “Biology and Information Convergence (BT and IT Convergence),” No. 2023YFF1205200 (to XZ [project participant]); Tianjin Municipal Natural Science Foundation (General Programs), Nos. 22JCYBJC00210 (to LQ) and 22JCYBJC00220 (to CXL)

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Electrical stimulation is an effective treatment plan for peripheral nerve injuries, but different frequencies of electrical stimulation have different mechanisms and applications for promoting peripheral nerve recovery.
OBJECTIVE: To systematically sort out and summarize the roles and applications of different frequencies of electrical stimulation in the treatment of peripheral nerve injuries, and to deeply analyze the advantages and disadvantages of various methods in order to find the most beneficial treatment strategy for patients’ nerve recovery.
METHODS: Computer-based searches were conducted in the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and PubMed databases from the inception of the databases to May 2024. The search terms included “peripheral nerve injury, electrical stimulation, low frequency electrical stimulation, medium frequency electrical stimulation, high frequency electrical stimulation, TENS, interfering electricity, short wave, ultrashort wave, frequency” in both English and Chinese. Ultimately, 74 relevant documents were included for analysis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Peripheral nerve injury, a common clinical disease, can cause sensory and motor dysfunction in patients. Low-frequency electrical stimulation can promote cell proliferation and accelerate the expression of nerve growth factor within the cell after electrical stimulation, promote macrophage recruitment and infiltration, accelerate the clearance of myelin debris, and promote myelin regeneration of damaged axons. Medium-frequency electrical stimulation can act on deeper tissues and is better for relieving neuropathic pain. High-frequency electrical stimulation can promote the proliferation of Schwann cells and macrophages, inhibit inflammatory factors, and rapidly recruit cells to the site of nerve injury, accelerating the speed of nerve repair. Different frequencies of electrical stimulation have their own advantages in promoting the recovery of peripheral nerve injuries, but there are still some issues, such as differences in the site of electrical stimulation and the treatment plans for various disease types.

中国组织工程研究杂志出版内容重点:组织构建;骨细胞;软骨细胞;细胞培养;成纤维细胞;血管内皮细胞;骨质疏松;组织工程

Key words: peripheral nerve injury, electrical stimulation, frequency, low-frequency electrical stimulation, nerve regeneration, peripheral nerve

CLC Number: