Abstract Background and objectives. To assess the efficacy of 10sessions (once daily for 10 days) of repetitive transcranial magneticstimulation (rTMS) on primary motor cortex (M1) in patients sufferingfrom malignant visceral pain. Materials and methods. Thirty fourpatients were included in the study. They were divided randomly intotwo groups (17 patients for each, using closed envelopes): real rTMS(20 Hz, 10 trains with intertrain interval of 30 s with total pulses 2,000,intensity 80% of motor threshold) and sham rTMS (coil elevated andangled away from the head). Stimulation was applied over M1 everyday for ten consecutive days. Patients were evaluated using a verbaldescriptor scale (VDS), visual analog scale (VAS), and Hamiltonrating scale for depression (HAM-D) at baseline; after the 1st, 5th,and 10th sessions; and then at 15 days and one month later after theend of the treatment sessions. Serum human dynorphin (Dyn) wasmeasured at baseline, and after the 5th and 10th sessions. Results.Fifteen patients from each group completed the study. There was nosignificant difference between real and sham groups in the duration ofillness, or any rating scales at baseline. Compared with the sham group,the VAS/VDS scores decreased more in patients who received realrTMS over the course of the treatment and at 15 days follow-up thanin those who received sham stimulation. Scores were the same at onemonth follow-up. There were no significant changes in serum humanDyn in either group. Conclusion. The results confirm that 10 sessionsof rTMS over the M1 can induce pain relief in malignant visceral painfor at least 15 days but the effect is not maintained at one month

(PDF) Effect of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on Malignant Visceral Pain. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286489057_Effect_of_Repetitive… [accessed Oct 15 2018].