Evaluation of stereotactic thalamotomies for pain relief with reference to pulvinar intervention

Stereotactic thalamotomies were carried out in 51 cases of malignant and 9 cases of other painful conditions. The patients were divided into two groups--those with a relatively small lesion created in the basal part of the CM nucleus and those with a larger lesion extending into the pulvinar. In total, 50% of the cases showed complete pain relief, 20% partial relief and 30% no effect. The group with pulvinar intervention showed better results, especially those with malignancies.