R V Alves1, W T Asfora. 1. Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital Beneficência Portuguesa, São Paulo, Brazil. raphaelvalves@yahoo.com.br
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The term "central post-stroke pain" is more appropriate to describe neuropathic pain following a cerebrovascular accident. Most patients complain of burning and other symptoms like lacerating and shooting pain. Treatment options for central pain are limited in number and efficacy. CASE REPORT: This paper reports on a 47-year-old man with central post-stroke pain refractory to treatment. The patient underwent insertion of a deep brain stimulator utilizing the Leksell frame. The target was the left centromedian thalamic nuclei. He had a qualitative symptomatic improvement. CONCLUSION: Deep brain stimulation can be a useful tool when all other modalities have failed. It is a minimally invasive neurosurgical procedure that may improve the quality of life in carefully selected (often desperate) patients with central post-stroke pain. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
BACKGROUND: The term "central post-stroke pain" is more appropriate to describe neuropathic pain following a cerebrovascular accident. Most patients complain of burning and other symptoms like lacerating and shooting pain. Treatment options for central pain are limited in number and efficacy. CASE REPORT: This paper reports on a 47-year-old man with central post-stroke pain refractory to treatment. The patient underwent insertion of a deep brain stimulator utilizing the Leksell frame. The target was the left centromedian thalamic nuclei. He had a qualitative symptomatic improvement. CONCLUSION: Deep brain stimulation can be a useful tool when all other modalities have failed. It is a minimally invasive neurosurgical procedure that may improve the quality of life in carefully selected (often desperate) patients with central post-stroke pain. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.