Pain relief following stimulation of the pontomesencephalic parabrachial region in humans: brain sites for nonopiate-mediated pain control.

It has been demonstrated that stimulation of the pontomesencephalic parabrachial region (PBR) by microinjection of cholinergic drugs or electricity in the cat produces potent pain suppression which is not antagonized by the opiate antagonist, naloxone. We report the application of electrical PBR stimulation in 2 patients whose pain was resistant to conventional methods of treatment including morphine administration. Intermittent use of low-frequency PBR stimulation was found to relieve pain in these patients. The present results appear to suggest that PBR stimulation, unlike periaqueductal gray stimulation, may be useful for the control of morphine-resistant pain in humans.