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Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Affective Symptoms and Functioning in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pilot Double-Blinded, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.


ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is highly prevalent, with a substantial psychosocial burden. Pain has both sensory and affective components. The latter component is a significant driver of disability and psychiatric comorbidity but is often inadequately treated. Previously we reported that noninvasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may modulate pain-associated affective distress. Here we tested whether 10 daily tDCS sessions aimed to inhibit the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC), a region strongly implicated in the affective component of pain, would produce selective reduction in pain-related symptoms. METHODS:In this multisite, double-blinded, randomized placebo-controlled trial (RCT), 21 CLBP patients received 10 weekday sessions of 2-mA active tDCS or sham (20 minutes/session). A cathodal electrode was placed over FC1 (10-20 electroencephalography coordinates), and an identical anodal return electrode was placed over the contralateral mastoid. Participants rated pain intensity, acceptance, interference, disability, and anxiety, plus general anxiety and depression. RESULTS:Regression analysis noted significantly less pain interference (P =0.002), pain disability (P =0.001), and depression symptoms (P =0.003) at six-week follow-up for active tDCS vs sham. Omnibus tests suggested that these improvements were not merely due to baseline (day 1) group differences. CONCLUSIONS:To our knowledge, this is the first double-blinded RCT of multiple tDCS sessions targeting the left dACC to modulate CLBP's affective symptoms. Results are encouraging, including several possible tDCS-associated improvements. Better-powered RCTs are needed to confirm these effects. Future studies should also consider different stimulation schedules, additional cortical targets, high-density multi-electrode tDCS arrays, and multimodal approaches.

SUBMITTER: Mariano TY 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6544554 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Affective Symptoms and Functioning in Chronic Low Back Pain: A Pilot Double-Blinded, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Trial.

Mariano Timothy Y TY   Burgess Frederick W FW   Bowker Marguerite M   Kirschner Jason J   Van't Wout-Frank Mascha M   Jones Richard N RN   Halladay Christopher W CW   Stein Michael M   Greenberg Benjamin D BD  

Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) 20190601 6


<h4>Background and objective</h4>Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is highly prevalent, with a substantial psychosocial burden. Pain has both sensory and affective components. The latter component is a significant driver of disability and psychiatric comorbidity but is often inadequately treated. Previously we reported that noninvasive transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) may modulate pain-associated affective distress. Here we tested whether 10 daily tDCS sessions aimed to inhibit the left  ...[more]

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