• Mark Plazier, Jan Ost, Erwin Snijders, Martijn Gilbers, Tim Vancamp, Dirk De Ridder, and Sven Vanneste.
• Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Antwerp, Edegem, Belgium.
• Neuromodulation. 2015 Jul 1;18(5):376-83.

ObjectiveFibromyalgia causes widespread musculo-skeletal pain in the four quadrants of the body. Greater occipital nerve stimulation has recently shown beneficial effects in fibromyalgia patients on pain, fatigue, and mood disorders. Laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) are used for research to understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of pain and to evaluate the effects of pain treatment. In fibromyalgia patients, LEPs tend to have a higher N2 amplitude, a tendency to shorter latencies, and patients have a lower pain threshold. Greater occipital nerve stimulation might exert a modulation of the medial pain pathways processing the affective motivational components of pain (unpleasantness) as well as the descending pain inhibitory pathways (reducing pain), both of which are contributing to the N2P2 peak.Materials And MethodsTo test this hypothesis, the authors performed LEPs in a group of fibromyalgia patients with and without greater occipital nerve stimulation.ResultsOccipital nerve stimulation does not alter the amplitudes of the LEP recordings, although a significant difference in latencies can be seen. More specifically, latencies of the N2P2 increased in the condition after stimulation, and especially at the Pz electrode.ConclusionOur results suggest Occipital Nerve Stimulation (ONS) induces a modification of the balance between antinociceptive pain inhibitory pathways and pain-provoking pathways.© 2015 International Neuromodulation Society.

28 keywords...

hide…