Evidence map›Paper›PMID 20685806›Full record

Trial reportBrain : a journal of neurology2010

Effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation and visual illusion on neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury.

Maria Dolors Soler, Hatice Kumru, Raul Pelayo, Joan Vidal, Josep Maria Tormos, Felipe Fregni, Xavier Navarro, Alvaro Pascual-Leone

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · bronzeAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Brain : a journal of neurology, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 133 papers, 18 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
133citing papers in PubMed, 18 pooled it
8.9field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02487966 naactive not recruitingnot on this mapstarted 2015, after this paper: background citation

Optimizing Rehabilitation for Phantom Limb Pain Using Mirror Therapy and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)

TypeinterventionalSponsorSpaulding Rehabilitation HospitalRan2015 to 2026Enrolled132ConditionsPhantom Limb Pain, Amputation, TraumaticArmstranscranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS): active (Soterix ©), Mirror Therapy: active, transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS): sham (Soterix ©), Mirror Therapy: Sham
NCT05098587 completednot on this mapstarted 2021, after this paper: background citation

Are Changes in Pain Perception Associated With Changes in Brain Activity Patterns in Persons With Spinal Cord Injury and Neuropathic Pain After a Virtual Walking Training Program - A Pilot Study

TypeobservationalSponsorSwiss Paraplegic Research, NottwilRan2021 to 2023Enrolled12ConditionsSpinal Cord Injuries, Neuropathic Pain
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

133 citing papers in PubMed, 18 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 308 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Comparative efficacy of common rehabilitation treatments for patients with neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Efficacy of neuromodulation and rehabilitation approaches on pain relief in patients with spinal cord injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Brain stimulation targets for chronic pain: Insights from meta-analysis, functional connectivity and literature review.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2024
    Pooled it
  6. Guideline
  7. Pooled it
  8. Pooled it
  9. Pooled it
  10. Pooled it
  11. Pooled it
  12. Pooled it
  13. Pooled it
  14. Guideline
  15. Neuroscience of Virtual Reality: From Virtual Exposure to Embodied Medicine.Cyberpsychology, behavior and social networking · 2019
    Pooled it
  16. Pooled it
  17. Pooled it
  18. Pooled it
  19. Trial
  20. Trial

73 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Maria Dolors SolerHospital de Neurorehabilitació, Institut Guttmann, Camí Can Ruti s/n. Barcelona, 08916 Badalona, Spain. dsoler@guttmann.com
Hatice Kumru
Raul Pelayo
Joan Vidal
Josep Maria Tormos
Felipe Fregni
Xavier Navarro
Alvaro Pascual-Leone
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona · ESBerenson Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation · USInstitut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona · ES

Funding

Study and Modulation of Brian PlasticityK24RR018875 · NCRR · BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER · PI PASCUAL-LEONE, ALVARO · 2004 to 2008
$602k
NCRR NIH HHS K24 RR 018875NCRR NIH HHS K24 RR018875
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the analgesic effect of transcranial direct current stimulation of the motor cortex and techniques of visual illusion, applied isolated or combined, in patients with neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury. In a sham controlled, double-blind, parallel group design, 39 patients were randomized into four groups receiving transcranial direct current stimulation with walking visual illusion or with control illusion and sham stimulation with visual illusion or with control illusion. For transcranial direct current stimulation, the anode was placed over the primary motor cortex. Each patient received ten treatment sessions during two consecutive weeks. Clinical assessment was performed before, after the last day of treatment, after 2 and 4 weeks follow-up and after 12 weeks. Clinical assessment included overall pain intensity perception, Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory and Brief Pain Inventory. The combination of transcranial direct current stimulation and visual illusion reduced the intensity of neuropathic pain significantly more than any of the single interventions. Patients receiving transcranial direct current stimulation and visual illusion experienced a significant improvement in all pain subtypes, while patients in the transcranial direct current stimulation group showed improvement in continuous and paroxysmal pain, and those in the visual illusion group improved only in continuous pain and dysaesthesias. At 12 weeks after treatment, the combined treatment group still presented significant improvement on the overall pain intensity perception, whereas no improvements were reported in the other three groups. Our results demonstrate that transcranial direct current stimulation and visual illusion can be effective in the management of neuropathic pain following spinal cord injury, with minimal side effects and with good tolerability.

Indexed as

Activities of Daily LivingAdultAgedAnxietyDouble-Blind MethodFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansHyperalgesiaIllusionsMaleMiddle AgedMotor CortexNeuralgiaPain MeasurementPsychiatric Status Rating Scales

Identifiers

PMID20685806
PMCPMC2929331
OpenAlexW2094741229

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.