Deep Brain Stimulation for Chronic Pain

Alexander Alamri; Erlick A C Pereira

doi:10.1016/j.nec.2022.02.013

Deep Brain Stimulation for Chronic Pain

Neurosurg Clin N Am. 2022 Jul;33(3):311-321. doi: 10.1016/j.nec.2022.02.013. Epub 2022 May 25.

Authors

Alexander Alamri¹, Erlick A C Pereira²

Affiliations

¹ Neurosciences Research Centre, Molecular and Clinical Sciences Institute, St George's University of London, London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: aalamri@sgul.ac.uk.
² Neurosciences Research Centre, Molecular and Clinical Sciences Institute, St George's University of London, London, United Kingdom.

PMID: 35718401
DOI: 10.1016/j.nec.2022.02.013

Abstract

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical intervention well known for the treatment of movement disorders as well as epilepsy, Tourette syndrome, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. DBS was pioneered in the 1950s, however, as a tool for treating facial pain, phantom limb pain, post-stroke pain, and brachial plexus pain among other disease states. Various anatomic targets exist, including the sensory thalamus (ventral posterior lateral and ventral posterior medial), the periaqueductal gray and periventricular gray matter, and the anterior cingulate cortex.

Keywords: Anterior cingulate cortex; Chronic pain; Deep brain stimulation; Periaqueductal gray/periventricular gray; Ventral posterior thalamus.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Chronic Pain* / therapy
Deep Brain Stimulation*
Humans
Neurosurgical Procedures
Periaqueductal Gray / physiology
Thalamus / surgery