Clinical effectiveness of primary and secondary headache treatment by transcranial direct current stimulation

Abstract

The clinical effectiveness of primary and secondary headache treatment by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) with various locations of stimulating electrodes on the scalp was analyzed retrospectively. The results of the treatment were analyzed in 90 patients aged from 19 to 54 years (48 patients had migraine without aura, 32 - frequent episodic tension-type HAs, 10 - chronic tension-type HAs) and in 44 adolescents aged 11-16 years with chronic post-traumatic HAs after a mild head injury. Clinical effectiveness of tDCS with 70-150 μA current for 30-45 min via 6.25 cm2 stimulating electrodes is comparable to that of modern pharmacological drugs, with no negative side effects. The obtained result has been maintained on average from 5 to 9 months. It has been demonstrated that effectiveness depends on localization of stimulating electrodes used for different types of HAs. © 2013 Pinchuk, Pinchuk, Sirbiladze and Shugar.