Deep brain stimulation for the alleviation of post-stroke neuropathic pain

Our aim was to asses the efficacy of deep brain stimulation in post-stroke neuropathic pain. Since 2000, 15 patients with post-stroke intractable neuropathic pain were treated with deep brain stimulation of the periventricular gray area (PVG), sensory thalamus (Ventroposterolateral nucleus-VPL) or both. Pain was assessed using both a visual analogue scale and the McGill's pain questionnaire. VAS scores show a mean improvement of 48.8% (SD 8.6%). However, there is a wide variation between patients. This study demonstrates that it is an effective treatment in 70% of such patients.