Evaluation of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation on the Pain of Patients with Fibromyalgia

Abstract

Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is amongst the famous reviewed types of noninvasive therapy, newly used to remedy fibromyalgia (FM), a persistent pain disturbance. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of rTMS on the pain of FM in patients.

Methods: A total of 24 patients with FM were recruited and equally divided to randomly receive 4000 pulses at 10 Hz rTMS treatment or sham condition for ten twenty-minute sessions (5 sessions a week over two weeks). Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), FM Impact Questionnaire (FIQ), and McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) were completed before the intervention and after the first, the second, and the fourth weeks of the intervention.

Results: There were no significant differences between groups in terms of sociodemographic variables and clinical characteristics along with analgesic treatments. Analysis indicated that average intensity in patients’ pain was remarkably lower in active group than in the sham one at the second and fourth weeks. Also, McGill affective subscore was considerably lower in active rTMS group than the sham group at the fourth week. Quality of patients’ life at the first, second, and fourth sessions was significantly higher in the active group than in the sham group.

Conclusion: The results of this research showed that excitatory rTMS at prefrontal cortex (PFC) of patients had an effective and long-lasting impact on pain reduction and improvement of patients’ quality of life (QOL).