[Surgical treatment of chronic pain]

In view of negative experience and the disappointing long-term results, most of the classic surgical methods for treating chronic pain are no longer indicated. Only in cancer pain is dissection of the spino-thalamic tract at the cervical or upper thoracic level frequently helpful. In selected cases the same may be said of rhizotomy. Controlled thermocoagulation of the Gasserian ganglion provides the best results in typical trigeminal pain. Other methods of surgical treatment (e.g. commissural myelotomy, thalamotomy) mentioned in this article are things of the past which are no longer used.