Fig. 1.

Repeated SCS induces short-term inhibition of mechanical hypersensitivity in CCI rats. A Schematic illustrating the experimental setup for repeated SCS in rats with CCI of the left sciatic nerve. Lumbar spinal cord tissue (L4–L6, marked with dotted lines) ipsilateral to the side of nerve injury was harvested after the last SCS treatment on day 21 post-injury. B Experimental timeline. CCI rats received repeated SCS (50 Hz, 0.2 ms, biphasic, 80% motor threshold, 180 min/session, n = 15) or sham stimulation (n = 10) from days 18 to 21 post-injury. Naïve rats (n = 8) received no treatment. C Paw withdrawal thresholds were measured before injury (Pre-CCI), before stimulation (Pre-SCS), and during the morning (AM) session of SCS (Intra-SCS) on days 18 to 21 post-injury. Data are shown as the mean ± SEM. Two-way mixed model ANOVA, with Bonferroni post hoc test. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ****P < 0.0001 versus CCI+Sham SCS; ^#P < 0.05, ^##P < 0.01, ^###P < 0.001, ^####P < 0.0001 vs Pre-SCS of the same day.