Services de Physiologie, Explorations Fonctionnelles, Hopital Henri Mondor, 51 avenue de Lattre de Tassigny, 94010 Creteil, France.
Chronic electrical stimulation of the precentral (motor) cortex using surgically implanted electrodes is performed to treat medication-resistant neurogenic pain. The goal of this placebo-controlled study was to obtain such antalgic effects by means of a non-invasive cortical stimulation using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Eighteen patients with intractable neurogenic pain of various origins were included and underwent a 20 min session of either 10 Hz, 0.5 Hz or* sham rTMS over the motor cortex in a random order. A significant decrease in the mean pain level of the series was obtained only after 10 Hz rTMS. This study shows that a transient pain relief can be induced by 10 Hz rTMS of the motor cortex in some patients suffering from chronic neurogenic pain.
PMID: 11588611 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]