Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Sep 2007
Randomized Controlled TrialReduction of intractable deafferentation pain due to spinal cord or peripheral lesion by high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation of the primary motor cortex.
The authors previously reported that navigation-guided repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the precentral gyrus relieves deafferentation pain. Stimulation parameters were 10 trains of 10-second 5-Hz TMS pulses at 50-second intervals. In the present study, they used various stimulation frequencies and compared efficacies between two types of lesions. ⋯ High-frequency (5- or 10-Hz) rTMS of the precentral gyrus can reduce intractable deafferentation pain, but low-frequency stimulation (at 1 Hz) cannot. Patients with a noncerebral lesion are more suitable candidates for high-frequency rTMS of the precentral gyrus.