Effectiveness of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in the Treatment of Chronic Neuropathic Pain

Neuropathic pain is a public health problem because of its prevalence reaching nearly 7% of the general population and the effectiveness of current treatments often remains incomplete: only 30-40% of patients are relieved of 50% of their pain by a pharmacological approach. As early as the 1990s, stimulation of the motor cortex by implanted electrodes made it possible to successfully treat certain chronic refractory neuropathic pain. In 1995 it was reported that the application of repeated shocks by transcranial magnetic stimulation of the motor cortex could induce an analgesic effect in a patient suffering from neuropathic pain. This technique has proved its analgesic efficacy after an induction treatment over 5 days, in the context of chronic pain (neuropathic or fibromyalgia), but all the patients are not responders and there is currently, Of predictive criteria for response. It seems important to continue studies on this non-medicinal, non-invasive therapy with no significant adverse effects.