ArticleJournal of clinical medicine2020
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of the Occipital Cortex in Medication Overuse Headache: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Cross-Over Study.
Article in Journal of clinical medicine, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Which is the best transcranial direct current stimulation protocol for migraine prevention? A systematic review and critical appraisal of randomized controlled trials.The journal of headache and pain · 2021Pooled it
- Efficacy of prefrontal-occipital transcranial direct current stimulation for refractory chronic migraine.BMC neurology · 2026Article
- An exploration of possible future non-pharmacological multidisciplinary treatments to potentiate withdrawal strategy and recovery from medication overuse headache (MOH): a narrative review.Journal of oral & facial pain and headache · 2026Review
- [Using electricity to combat headache : Electrotherapy and tDCS in the 1870s/1880s and today].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2025Review
- Article
- Excitation-Inhibition Imbalance in Migraine: From Neurotransmitters to Brain Oscillations.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Neuromodulation for Chronic Daily Headache.Current pain and headache reports · 2022Review
- Novel flexible cap for application of transcranial electrical stimulation: a usability study.Biomedical engineering online · 2020Article
- Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Migraine-The Beginning of a Long Journey.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMedication overuse headache (MOH) is a chronic pain syndrome that arises from the frequent use of acute antimigraine drugs. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation technique with a possible therapeutic effect in this particular context.
methodsThis was a randomized, sham-controlled, cross-over study. Eighteen patients with MOH (17 women, age range: 20-38 years) received three sets of three consecutive daily sessions of tDCS: anodal tDCS over the prefrontal cortex, cathodal tDCS over the occipital cortex ipsilateral to the dominant side of migraine pain, and sham. The order in which the tDCS blocks were delivered was randomly defined based on a 1:1:1 ratio. Patients filled in a migraine diary that allowed recording of the pain intensity (visual analogue scale) and the daily consumption of analgesic pills from one week before to two weeks after each condition.
resultsBoth prefrontal and occipital tDCS lowered the total number of migraine days and the number of severe migraine days per week at week 1, but only the effects of occipital tDCS on these two outcomes lasted until week 2. Only occipital tDCS decreased the daily analgesic pills consumption, at weeks 1 and 2.
conclusionThree consecutive days of cathodal occipital tDCS appear to improve the clinical outcomes in patients with MOH.
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