Transcranial Stimulation is Effective in Fibromyalgia Save

This double-blind, sham-controlled randomized clinical trial enrolled adult women with FM. Participants were randomized to either A-tDCS or sham tDCS between . Patients were treated with home-based tDCS (2 mA; 20 minutes daily) or sham tDCS (2 mA; 30 seconds at the start, then 10 minutes, and then 20 minutes, with a 20-second ramp-up and ramp-down) for 4 weeks with anodal-left and cathodal-right prefrontal stimulation (35 cm² electrodes). All patients also received instruction for exercise and PNE via videos and remote supervision following in-person training. The primary outcome was change in Multidimensional Pain Interference Index (MPII) at treatment end and 3-month follow-up. MPII was measured by the Brief Pain Inventory, a 7-item scale that assesses the impact of pain on daily activities, emotional well-being, and social interactions.

A total of 112 female patients (mean age 49 years) were randomized to either A-tDCS or sham tDCS. MPII (pain) was reduced by 39% for the A-tDCS group vs 16% for sham tDCS. A significant treatment-by-time interaction favored A-tDCS across 5 assessments, with no interaction by placebo response. In placebo responders, Improvement in MPII of 50% or more was achieved by 62.5% in the A-tDCS group vs 37.5% in the sham tDCS group (relative risk, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.39-0.91).

In this study of 112 women with fibromyalgia, A-tDCS combined with exercise and PNE outperformed sham tDCS with exercise and PNE, resulting in significant reductions in pain severity, and improved pain-related disability.

We recently reported another similar trial wherein 110 women with FM benefitted from repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) with up to 8 weeks of pain relief and up to 16 weeks of functional improvement.