Article

There remains an unmet clinical need for the development of new
therapeutic approaches for the treatment of pain. Recent findings have confirmed
significant changes in the pain-related neural networks among patients with
chronic pain, opening novel possibilities for investigation. Two non-invasive
techniques (transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct
current stimulation (tDCS)) have emerged as interesting, effective, and promising
modalities for pain relief. METHODS: Here we review the clinical efficacy of
these techniques for the treatment of pain through an updated systematic
meta-analysis on the effects of primary motor cortex stimulation on pain and we
discuss potential mechanisms of action based on insights from brain stimulation
studies. Our meta-analysis includes 18 studies, which together show that
non-invasive brain stimulation is associated with an effect size of -0.86 (95%
C.I., -1.54, -0.19) on a standardized pain scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10
(worst pain possible). CONCLUSIONS: Besides its use as a therapeutic
tool, non-invasive brain stimulation can also be used to measure cortical
reactivity and plasticity in chronic pain. Such measurements could potentially be
used as biomarkers for the dysfunctional chronic pain-related neural network and
might be helpful in measuring the efficacy of interventions designed for chronic
pain.

Langue : ANGLAIS