Neurology
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Central pain modulation after subthalamic nucleus stimulation: A crossover randomized trial.
To investigate the acute effect of subthalamic nuclei deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) and levodopa on pain and tolerance thresholds in patients with Parkinson disease. We hypothesized that a modification of pain threshold after STN-DBS would suggest a central modification of pain perception, whereas the absence of pain threshold change after STN-DBS would correspond to a peripheral mechanism via a decrease of painful stimuli. ⋯ Clinical pain alleviation after STN-DBS cannot be considered merely as a consequence of motor complications improvement and could be attributable to a direct central modulation of pain perception, via increased mechanical pain and tolerance thresholds.