Deep brain stimulation for the treatment of intractable pain.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) plays an important role in the treatment of chronic pain when other less invasive treatment modalities have been exhausted. DBS is an apparently safe and effective treatment option for a select group of patients. Further research into the mechanisms of pain relief by DBS and careful prospective outcomes studies should help to define better the optimal techniques for DBS and clarify which patient populations may be best helped by this interventional procedure.