Motor cortex transcranial magnetic stimulation to reduce intractable postherpetic neuralgia with poor response to other threapies: Report of two cases

BACKGROUND: Postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) is a typical neuropathic pain condition that appears in the lesioned skin regions following the healing of shingles. The pain condition tends to persist, which is often accompanied by negative emotions (e.g., anxiety and depression) and substantially reduces the quality of life. In addition to analgesia (e.g., pregabalin and gabapentin), nerve radiofrequency technology is an effective treatment for intractable PHN. However, there is still a significant portion of patients who do not benefit from this treatment. As a non-invasive form of brain stimulation, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) targeting the motor cortex is able to reduce neuropathic pain with grade A evidence. CASE SUMMARY: Here we report two cases in which motor cortex rTMS was used to treat intractable PHN that did not respond to initial drug and radiofrequency therapies. Moreover, we specifically investigated rTMS efficacy at 3 mo following treatment. CONCLUSION: Motor cortex rTMS can treat intractable PHN that did not respond to initial drug and radiofrequency therapies.