Fasilis T, Gatzonis S, Patrikelis P, Korfias S, Alexoudi A. Transcranial direct current stimulation efficacy in trigeminal neuralgia. World J Clin Cases 2024; 12(5): 1036-1038 [PMID: 38414597 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i5.1036]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Athanasia Alexoudi, MD, MSc, PhD, Academic Research, Research Fellow, Department of Neurosurgery, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Ipsilantou 45-47, Athens 10676, Greece. alexoudath@yahoo.gr
Research Domain of This Article
Neurosciences
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Theodoros Fasilis, Stylianos Gatzonis, Panayiotis Patrikelis, Stefanos Korfias, Athanasia Alexoudi, 1st Department of Neurosurgery, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 10676, Greece
Athanasia Alexoudi, Department of Neurology, Neurological Institute of Athens, Athens 10676, Greece
Author contributions: Alexoudi A and Gatzonis S designed research; Fasilis T performed research; Alexoudi A and Fasilis T analyzed data; Alexoudi A wrote the letter; Korfias S and Patrikelis P, revised the letter.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Athanasia Alexoudi, MD, MSc, PhD, Academic Research, Research Fellow, Department of Neurosurgery, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Ipsilantou 45-47, Athens 10676, Greece. alexoudath@yahoo.gr
Received: November 24, 2023 Peer-review started: November 24, 2023 First decision: December 18, 2023 Revised: December 27, 2023 Accepted: January 16, 2024 Article in press: January 16, 2024 Published online: February 16, 2024 Processing time: 67 Days and 13.1 Hours
Abstract
Trigeminal neuralgia is a severe, disabling pain and its deafferentation remains a challenge for health providers. Transcranial direct current stimulation is a non-invasive stimulation technique which finds new utility in managing pain. Therefore, the introduction of alternative, non-invasive, safe, and effective methods should be considered in treating patients with trigeminal neuralgia unresponsive to conventional treatment.
Core Tip: Various drugs and surgical procedures have been utilized for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. The side effects of conventional treatments alongside with the refractoriness of the condition render numerous available approaches unsatisfactory. Mounting evidence suggest alternative, non-invasive, and safe methods such as patient-controlled intravenous analgesia with esketamine and transcranial direct current stimulation effective instruments in treating patients with trigeminal neuralgia unresponsive to conventional treatment.
