Posterior-superior insular deep transcranial magnetic stimulation alleviates peripheral neuropathic pain - A pilot double-blind, randomized cross-over study

Liu Dongyang, Ana Mércia Fernandes, Pedro Henrique Martins da Cunha, Raissa Tibes, João Sato, Clarice Listik, Camila Dale, Gabriel Taricani Kubota, Ricardo Galhardoni, Manoel Jacobsen Teixeira, Valquíria Aparecida da Silva, Jefferson Rosi, Daniel Ciampi de Andrade

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

24 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Peripheral neuropathic pain (pNeP) is prevalent, and current treatments, including drugs and motor cortex repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) leave a substantial proportion of patients with suboptimal pain relief.

METHODS: We explored the intensity and short-term duration of the analgesic effects produced in pNeP patients by 5 days of neuronavigated deep rTMS targeting the posterior superior insula (PSI) with a double-cone coil in a sham-controlled randomized cross-over trial.

RESULTS: Thirty-one pNeP patients received induction series of five active or sham consecutive sessions of daily deep-rTMS to the PSI in a randomized sequence, with a washout period of at least 21 days between series. The primary outcome [number of responders (>50% pain intensity reduction from baseline in a numerical rating scale ranging from 0 to 10)] was significantly higher after real (58.1%) compared to sham (19.4%) stimulation (p = 0.002). The number needed to treat was 2.6, and the effect size was 0.97 [95% CI (0.6; 1.3)]. One week after the 5th stimulation day, pain scores were no longer different between groups, and no difference in neuropathic pain characteristics and interference with daily living were present. No major side effects occurred, and milder adverse events (i.e., short-lived headaches after stimulation) were reported in both groups. Blinding was effective, and analgesic effects were not affected by sequence of the stimulation series (active-first or sham-first), age, sex or pain duration of participants.

DISCUSSION: PSI deep-rTMS was safe in refractory pNeP and was able to provide significant pain intensity reduction after a five-day induction series of treatments. Post-hoc assessment of neuronavigation targeting confirmed deep-rTMS was delivered within the boundaries of the PSI in all participants.

CONCLUSION: PSI deep-rTMS provided significant pain relief during 5-day induction sessions compared to sham stimulation.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNeurophysiologie Clinique
Volume51
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)291-302
Number of pages12
ISSN0987-7053
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Aug 2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Keywords

  • Cross-Over Studies
  • Double-Blind Method
  • Humans
  • Motor Cortex
  • Neuralgia/therapy
  • Pain Measurement
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
  • Treatment Outcome

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