Neuromodulation techniques are an alternative to drug treatments that are increasingly proposed for the management of chronic pain. Noninvasive brain stimulation, using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) applied at high frequency (10–20 Hz) to the primary motor cortex (precentral gyrus), has shown analgesic effects with high level of evidence in patients with various types of chronic pain syndrome. The optimal stimulation parameters have yet to be determined, in particular the precise region of the precentral gyrus to target in each individual. Magnetic resonance imaging guidance via a dedicated navigation system is now mandatory to define personalized cortical stimulation sites for pain treatment. Alternative targets outside the motor cortex exist, but with much less evidence of efficacy. Several methodological questions of rTMS navigation remain to be resolved to target the most relevant brain networks in each individual in order to increase the responder rate, i.e., the intensity and duration of analgesic effects. In any case, therapeutic neuromodulation is particularly useful in reducing the side effects associated with analgesic medications.

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Navigated rTMS for the Treatment of Pain

  • Jean-Pascal Lefaucheur,
  • Benjamin Bardel

摘要

Neuromodulation techniques are an alternative to drug treatments that are increasingly proposed for the management of chronic pain. Noninvasive brain stimulation, using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) applied at high frequency (10–20 Hz) to the primary motor cortex (precentral gyrus), has shown analgesic effects with high level of evidence in patients with various types of chronic pain syndrome. The optimal stimulation parameters have yet to be determined, in particular the precise region of the precentral gyrus to target in each individual. Magnetic resonance imaging guidance via a dedicated navigation system is now mandatory to define personalized cortical stimulation sites for pain treatment. Alternative targets outside the motor cortex exist, but with much less evidence of efficacy. Several methodological questions of rTMS navigation remain to be resolved to target the most relevant brain networks in each individual in order to increase the responder rate, i.e., the intensity and duration of analgesic effects. In any case, therapeutic neuromodulation is particularly useful in reducing the side effects associated with analgesic medications.