Non-invasive brain stimulation for fibromyalgia: current trends and future perspectives

Abstract

Fibromyalgia, a common and enduring pain disorder, ranks as the second most prevalent rheumatic disease after osteoarthritis. Recent years have witnessed successful treatment using non-invasive brain stimulation. Transcranial magnetic stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation, and electroconvulsion therapy have shown promise in treating chronic pain. This article reviews the literature concerning non-invasive stimulation for fibromyalgia treatment, its mechanisms, and establishes a scientific basis for rehabilitation, and discusses the future directions for research and development prospects of these techniques are discussed.

Keywords: electroconvulsive therapy (ECT); fibromyalgia (FM); non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS); reduced impedance non-invasive cortical electrostimulation (RINCE); repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS); transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS); transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS); transcranial focused ultrasound (tFUS).