electrotherapy

n., pl., -pies.
Medical therapy using electric currents. Also called electrotherapeutics.

The use of electric current to treat disease. Electrotherapy is based on principles developed during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries following the first demonstration of “animal electricity” by Luigi Galvani in the eighteenth century. See also Electroconvulsive therapy.

Low-frequency electrotherapy

Low-frequency electrotherapy uses relatively weak alternating electric currents. They are delivered by electrodes that are placed under or on the surface of the body and are connected to pulse-shaping circuits that are located inside or outside the body.

Electrodes that stimulate electrically excitable cells, such as those in muscle and nerve tissues, are usually placed directly in or on the tissue by surgery or are inserted through a vein by catheterization. There are many applications for electrode stimulation: irregular heart rhythms can be controlled by pacemakers; muscles, such as those of the diaphragm and urinary bladder, that become paralyzed can be made to contract electrically; and long-term pain can be relieved by implanting electrodes in the spinal canal. Surface electrodes are widely used for temporary relief of pain; for preventing muscle atrophy after injury or immobilization; and for treatment of curvature of the spine, or scoliosis. See also Muscle; Pain.

A wide variety—if not all—of the body's nonexcitable cells alter their function in specific ways and at specific times in response to appropriate, very weak electrical stimuli. Much of the progress in electrotherapy has evolved from the observation that both hard and soft tissues, such as bone and arteries, become electrically charged when they are cyclically deformed by mechanical or hydrodynamic forces. By establishing the patterns and values of those stress-generated voltages in bone, researchers have been able to develop three methods of influencing the behavior of nonexcitable cells that are involved in the repair of nonunited fractures. The first clinical method for treating nonunited fractures employed surgically implanted electrodes. Unfortunately, surgical methods carry a risk of infection, and direct currents can result in adverse electrochemical reactions around the electrodes. Two noninvasive electrical methods have proved effective in altering cellular behavior. The first involves the placement of dynamically charged, insulated plates outside tissue-culture vessels or the fractured limbs of animals. The second method uses one or more coils of wire coupled to a pulse generator to create a weak time-varying magnetic field that penetrates the body, much as radio waves enter a closed building. As the understanding of their mechanisms of action at the cellular and subcellular levels has increased, pulsed electromagnetic fields have been used successfully to treat other problems of bone and its surrounding soft tissue.

Diathermy

Therapy for afflicted deep tissues that do not respond to conventional methods, such as infrared heating or heating pads, can often be achieved with diathermy. Heating results from the electrical resistance of tissue to high-frequency or microwave currents. Increasing the tissue temperature to a range of 106–113°F (41–45°C) increases the physiologic response and therapeutic benefit, which includes increased extensibility of collagen tissues in joint contractures, decreased joint stiffness in rheumatoid arthritis, and pain relief and reduction of muscle spasms through the local action of heat on nerve endings and receptors. Warming can also resolve inflammatory infiltrates, edema, and exudates and increase blood flow in diseased or damaged tissue. Heating has been used in cancer therapy under proper temperature control.

Hyperthermia

Hyperthermia is an experimental method of treating malignant tumors that uses heat alone, heat in combination with ionizing (x-ray) radiation, or heat with chemotherapy. One form of heating involves the application of radio-frequency energy by using methods similar to—but more sophisticated and more carefully controlled than—those in diathermy treatment. The effective temperature range of hyperthermia is very narrow, 108–111°F (42.5–44°C); the benefits are minimal at lower temperatures, and damage to normal cells is probable at higher temperatures. Several mechanisms are thought to account for the selective destruction of tumor cells: (1) selective heating caused by the lower rate of blood flow in tumor tissues; (2) greater sensitivity of tumor cells to heat due to their hypoxic, acidic, and poor nutritional state; (3) synergism of ionizing radiation and hyperthermia due to thermal killing of cells that are hypoxic and are at those critical stages of growth when they are most resistant to radiation; and (4) increase in cell membrane permeability and sensitivity to chemotherapeutic drugs.

---

Forms of physiotherapy that use electrical devices to treat injuries. In most cases, their effects include warming deep tissue. They are potentially hazardous and need expert knowledge for their safe application. See also electric muscle stimulator; diathermy; and ultrasound.

Treatment of disease by means of electricity. See also diathermy.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - elektroterapi

Nederlands (Dutch)
elektrotherapie

Français (French)
n. - électrothérapie

Deutsch (German)
n. - Elektrotherapie

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ιατρ.) ηλεκτροθεραπεία

Italiano (Italian)
elettroterapia

Português (Portuguese)
n. - eletroterapia (f) (Med.)

Русский (Russian)
электротерапия

Español (Spanish)
n. - electroterapia

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - elektroterapi

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
电疗法

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 電療法

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 전기 요법

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 電気療法

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) العلاج بالكهرباء‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮ריפוי בחשמל‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.