Transcranial stimulation alongside exercise, education improves fibromyalgia pain

Key takeaways:

Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation, with exercise and patient education, improved disability caused by fibromyalgia pain.

Adverse events were “mild to moderate.”

Anodal transcranial direct current stimulation, combined with exercise and patient education, is superior to placebo for improving fibromyalgia pain interference, according to data published in JAMA Network Open .

“This study addressed key limitations of previous trials, such as small sample sizes, short follow-up periods, and lack of control for placebo effects,” Wolnei Caumo, MD, PhD, full professor of anesthesia and pain at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul School of Medicine, and head of pain and palliative care service at Hospital de Clínicas, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, told Healio