The following is a summary of “Effects of transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) on pain intensity of patients with fibromyalgia: a systematic review and meta-analysis,” published in the November 2023 issue of Neurology by Moshfeghinia et al.
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic pain condition that can be treated with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS). Researchers performed a retrospective study to systematically review the evidence on the effectiveness of tDCS for pain reduction in fibromyalgia patients.
The study conducted a literature search across seven electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Cochrane, and CINAHL Complete) for English-language records. Inclusion criteria were studies examining the impact of tDCS on pain intensity in FM patients. They used the Cochrane Collaboration tool to assess the quality of the studies and analyzed the data using Stata software version 17, using a random-effects model whenever possible.
The result demonstrated that twenty were assessed qualitatively and eleven quantitatively. Among 664 patients, 443 were in the stimulation group, with the left M1 area as the most common stimulation target (n = 12) and 2 mA as the most common stimulation amplitude (n = 19). The analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in pain intensity for FM patients in the active tDCS group compared to the sham group (SMD = -1.55; 95% CI -2.10, -0.99), and no publication bias was observed.
The study found that tDCS applied at 2mA to the left M1 may be the most effective strategy for reducing pain intensity in FM patients.
Source: bmcneurol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12883-023-03445-7
