Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Pain Control. Double-blind Study of Different Frequencies Against Placebo, and Correlation with Motor Cortex Stimulation Efficacy

Objective: To assess, using a double-blind procedure, the pain-relieving effects of rTMS against placebo, and their predictive value regarding the efficacy of implanted motor cortex stimulation (MCS).

Methods: Three randomised, double-blinded, 25 min sessions of focal rTMS (1 Hz, 20 Hz and sham) were performed in 12 patients, at 2 weeks intervals. Effects on pain were estimated from daily scores across 5 days before, and 6 days after each session. Analgesic effects were correlated with those of subsequent implanted motor cortex stimulation (MCS).

Results: Immediately after the stimulating session, pain scores were similarly decreased by all rTMS modalities. Conversely, during the following week, 1 Hz stimulation provided significantly less analgesia than 20 Hz and placebo, and was pro-algesic in some patients. Placebo and 20 Hz rTMS were effective on different patients, and only 20 Hz rTMS predicted the efficacy of subsequent MCS, with no false positives.

Conclusions: While 1Hz rTMS should not be used with analgesic purposes, high-frequency rTMS may become useful to select candidates for MCS. Placebo effects are powerful and should be controlled for. Immediate results after a single rTMS session are misleading.

Significance: Defining rTMS parameters is a crucial step before proposing rTMS as predictive test of SCM efficacy in clinical practice.