Abstract

LIMA, Moisés da Cunha et al. Brain stimulation for the neuropathic pain’s treatment. Psicol. teor. prat. [online]. 2007, vol.9, n.2, pp. 142-148. ISSN 1516-3687.

Despite of the advance of pharmacological therapies in the last decades, therapeutic approaches to the treatment of neuropathic pain are still non-satisfactory. The patient full recovery in their daily activities is still a challenge and is based on an interdisciplinary approach involving others interventions than pharmacological one. One of the challenges in treating chronic pain is that the disorder leads to plastic changes in the brain that support this condition. The development of brain stimulation techniques shows that these methods can be an important option in pain management. Recent studies have shown that these techniques revert plastic alterations for a long period of time. One simple, low-cost and secure technique of brain stimulation is the transcranial direct current stimulation. It is a non-invasive and painless procedure able to modulate locally the brain activity, providing therapeutic effects. Because of chronic pain is a debilitating symptom, one of the most important in the quality of life and is associated with a dysfunction of the central nervous system, brain stimulation may have a beneficial effect in this group of patients.

Keywords : Non-invasive brain stimulation; Neurophatic pain; Pain management; Treatment; Neurosciences.

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