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EAN guidelines on central neurostimulation therapy in chronic pain conditions
Author(s) -
Cruccu G.,
GarciaLarrea L.,
Hansson P.,
Keindl M.,
Lefaucheur J.P.,
Paulus W.,
Taylor R.,
Tronnier V.,
Truini A.,
Attal N.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/ene.13103
Subject(s) - neurostimulation , neuropathic pain , medicine , transcranial magnetic stimulation , fibromyalgia , chronic pain , transcranial direct current stimulation , complex regional pain syndrome , physical medicine and rehabilitation , neuromodulation , primary motor cortex , physical therapy , anesthesia , stimulation
Background and purpose Our aim was to update previous European Federation of Neurological Societies guidelines on neurostimulation for neuropathic pain, expanding the search to new techniques and to chronic pain conditions other than neuropathic pain, and assessing the evidence with the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation ( GRADE ) system. Methods A systematic review and meta‐analysis of trials published between 2006 and December 2014 was conducted. Pain conditions included neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome ( CRPS ) type I and post‐surgical chronic back and leg pain ( CBLP ). Spinal cord stimulation ( SCS ), deep brain stimulation ( DBS ), epidural motor cortex stimulation ( MCS ), repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation ( rTMS ) and transcranial direct electrical stimulation ( tDCS ) of the primary motor cortex (M1) or dorsolateral prefrontal cortex ( DLPFC ) were assessed. The GRADE system was used to assess quality of evidence and propose recommendations. Results The following recommendations were reached: ‘weak’ for SCS added to conventional medical management in diabetic painful neuropathy, CBLP and CRPS , for SCS versus reoperation in CBLP , for MCS in neuropathic pain, for rTMS of M1 in neuropathic pain and fibromyalgia and for tDCS of M1 in neuropathic pain; ‘inconclusive’ for DBS in neuropathic pain, rTMS and tDCS of the DLPFC , and for motor cortex tDCS in fibromyalgia and spinal cord injury pain. Conclusions Given the poor to moderate quality of evidence identified by this review, future large‐scale multicentre studies of non‐invasive and invasive neurostimulation are encouraged. The collection of higher quality evidence of the predictive factors for the efficacy of these techniques, such as the duration, quality and severity of pain, is also recommended.