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Papers of the Week


Papers: 28 Nov 2020 - 4 Dec 2020


Human Studies


2020 Nov 29


Pain Med

Additive Analgesic Effect of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Together with Mirror Therapy for the Treatment of Phantom Pain.

Authors

Segal N, Pud D, Amir H, Ratmansky M, Kuperman P, Honigman L, Treister R
Pain Med. 2020 Nov 29.
PMID: 33249449.

Abstract

Current analgesic treatments for phantom pain are not optimal. One well-accepted yet limited nonpharmacological option is mirror therapy, which is thought to counterbalance abnormal plasticity. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is an emerging approach believed to affect the membrane potential and activity threshold of cortical neurons. tDCS analgesic effectiveness, however, is mild and short, rendering it a noneffective stand-alone treatment. This study aimed to assess if a combination of mirror therapy with tDCS results in a superior analgesic effect as compared with mirror therapy alone in patients suffering from phantom pain due to recent amputation.