Comparative study between transcranial direct current and repetitive transcranial electromagnetic stimulation in the rehabilitation of primary fibromyalgia

Abstract Background Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a complex disorder where a widespread musculoskeletal pain (without a clear lesion basis) is associated with a great variety of symptoms including affective disturbances, central fatigue, cognitive dysfunction and even a particular skin reactivity to several chemical substances. Despite intense research effort, especially in the last years, the pathophysiology of the disease remains to be explained. The treatment recommendations were classified as pharmacological therapies, non-pharmacological treatments, and complementary non-pharmacological therapies. Also, particular interest has been raised by techniques able to perform effective modulation of brain areas through magnetic or electric currents applied to the scalp like transcranial magnetic and electrical stimulation such as direct current (TMS and tDCS). Objective: To compare the efficacy of Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (r-TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (t-DCS) as non- invasive brain stimulation techniques in the rehabilitation of patients with primary (1ry) fibromyalgia (FM). Patients and Methods The present study included 30 patients with 1ry FM, equally divided into 2 groups. Group I included 15 patients who received 8 sessions of rTMS and Group II included 15 patients who received 8 sessions of anodal tDCS. Differences in visual analogue scale (VAS) of pain, tender point scale, Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQ) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were assessed before and after completion of assigned treatment sessions. Results Pain VAS, tender point scale, FIQ and HADS showed significant decrease between baseline and follow-up assessments for both groups. Moreover, a significant change in all assessment scales was observed post treatment when compared between both groups with more significant improvement in the group received rTMS. Conclusion Both rTMS and tDCS techniques showed marked improvement in symptoms of pain, functional status and quality of life in patients with 1ry fibromyalgia. Both techniques can be considered as promising alternatives therapeutic options in the treatment of FM in order to reduce side effects of long-term use of drugs.