[Deep cerebral stimulation in the management of deafferentation pain]

The authors studied the clinical records of 42 patients with deafferentation who were treated with deep brain stimulation and electrodes placed in the ventral basal complex of the thalamus and/or in the central grey matter by the stereotactic method used in the University of Toronto. They describe the selection criteria, the surgical technique used and the results obtained, including the complications and successful outcomes. This procedure is usually the only alternative for patients who have undergone diverse medical and surgical therapies, and it is not a destructive method, as are other surgical techniques.