Chronic pain effects on upwards of 10% of the world’s population, approximately 60 million people, and in the United States it is associated with an estimated cost of $500 billion per year due to lost productivity and medical treatments. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) has been used to treat chronic pain previously, however fell out of favor in the 1970-1980s due to heterogenous clinical results. The opioid pandemic has fueled renewed interest in DBS to alleviate pain. There are currently limited clinical trials in this area, however despite the FDA’s “off-label” status, there have been many success stories. With the advent of new DBS technologies and potential new brain targets, DBS for chronic pain control is poised to make a resurgence.
The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together a collection of papers ranging from the basic science of neuromodulation to clinical implementation of deep brain stimulation that shed light on the pathobiology and treatment for chronic pain. These insights will further stimulate new interest in use of DBS for chronic pain control and will help generate further development in this area. Ultimately this Research Topic will curate what we aim to be the renaissance of DBS for chronic pain control.
We welcome the submission of manuscripts including, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Neurobiology in-vitro studies examining the relationship of brain neuromodulation to pain control
• Animal models of chronic pain used to better understand DBS treatment
• Mechanistic studies of DBS in both humans and animal models
• Description of contemporary DBS technologies and emerging technical advancements
• Discussion of novel brain targets for chronic pain control
• Clinical trials reporting on outcomes of DBS for chronic pain control
• Strategies to prevent habituation from neuromodulation intervention with DBS for chronic pain
• Use of real-time biofeedback and artificial intelligence in DBS for chronic pain control
• Opioid reduction in setting of DBS for chronic pain control
Chronic pain effects on upwards of 10% of the world’s population, approximately 60 million people, and in the United States it is associated with an estimated cost of $500 billion per year due to lost productivity and medical treatments. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) has been used to treat chronic pain previously, however fell out of favor in the 1970-1980s due to heterogenous clinical results. The opioid pandemic has fueled renewed interest in DBS to alleviate pain. There are currently limited clinical trials in this area, however despite the FDA’s “off-label” status, there have been many success stories. With the advent of new DBS technologies and potential new brain targets, DBS for chronic pain control is poised to make a resurgence.
The goal of this Research Topic is to bring together a collection of papers ranging from the basic science of neuromodulation to clinical implementation of deep brain stimulation that shed light on the pathobiology and treatment for chronic pain. These insights will further stimulate new interest in use of DBS for chronic pain control and will help generate further development in this area. Ultimately this Research Topic will curate what we aim to be the renaissance of DBS for chronic pain control.
We welcome the submission of manuscripts including, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Neurobiology in-vitro studies examining the relationship of brain neuromodulation to pain control
• Animal models of chronic pain used to better understand DBS treatment
• Mechanistic studies of DBS in both humans and animal models
• Description of contemporary DBS technologies and emerging technical advancements
• Discussion of novel brain targets for chronic pain control
• Clinical trials reporting on outcomes of DBS for chronic pain control
• Strategies to prevent habituation from neuromodulation intervention with DBS for chronic pain
• Use of real-time biofeedback and artificial intelligence in DBS for chronic pain control
• Opioid reduction in setting of DBS for chronic pain control
