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Updated: May 16, 2026
Non-Invasive Electrical Brain Stimulation Montages for Modulation of Human Motor Function
Published on: February 4, 2016
Motor cortex stimulation in the treatment of neuropathic pain
Tomasz Mandat1, Henryk Koziara, Sławomir Barszcz
1Klinika Nowotworów Ukladu Nerwowego, Centrum Onkologii - Instytut, ul. Roentgena 5, 02-781 Warszawa, Polska. tomaszmandat@yahoo.com
Background And Purpose:
Despite the rapid development of neuropharmacotherapy, medical treatment of neuropathic pain (NP) still constitutes a significant socioeconomic problem. The authors herein present a group of patients treated with motor cortex stimulation (MCS) for NP of various types and aetiologies.
Material And Methods:
Our cohort included 12 female and 11 male NP patients aged 53 ± 16 treated with MCS. Eleven patients were diagnosed with neuropathic facial pain (NFP), 8 with hemi-body neuropathic pain (HNP), and 4 with deafferentation pain (DP). Prior to surgery, 16 out of 23 patients were treated with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), with a positive response in 10 cases. Pain intensity in our group was evaluated with the visual analogue scale (VAS) one month before and three months after MCS implantation.
Results:
Improvement on the VAS was reported in the whole group of patients (p < 0.001). The best results were reported in the NFP group (p < 0.001) while the worst ones were noted in the DP group (p = 0.04). Anamnesis duration positively correlated with outcome. Infection forced the authors to permanently remove the system in one case. There were no other complications in the group.
Conclusions:
Minimally invasive, safe neuromodulative treatment with MCS permits neuropathic pain control with good efficacy. The type of neuropathic pain might be a prognostic factor.
