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A Pilot Trial of Longitudinal Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) for Chronic Neuropathic Pain
Sponsor study identifier
interventional
32
1 country
1
Study Start
April 25, 2022
Actual (reported)Primary Completion
December 30, 2026
EstimatedPlanned date reported by the registry; this milestone is not confirmed as achieved.
Study Completion
December 30, 2026
EstimatedPlanned date reported by the registry; this milestone is not confirmed as achieved.
Chronic neuropathic pain is defined as pain caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system. It is highly prevalent, debilitating, and challenging to treat. Current available treatments have low efficacy, high side effect burden, and are prone to misuse and dependence. Emerging evidence suggests that the transition from acute to chronic neuropathic pain is associated with reorganization of central brain circuits involved in pain processing. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a promising alternative treatment that uses focused magnetic pulses to non-invasively modulate brain activity, a strategy that can potentially circumvent the adverse effects of available treatments for pain. RTMS is FDA-approved for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and migraine, and has been shown to reduce pain scores when applied to the contralateral motor cortex (M1). However, available studies of rTMS for chronic neuropathic pain typically show variable and often short-lived benefits, and many aspects of optimal treatment remain unknown, including ideal rTMS stimulation parameters, duration of treatment, and relationship to the underlying pain etiology. Here the investigators propose to evaluate the efficacy of high frequency rTMS to M1, the region with most evidence of benefit in chronic neuropathic pain, and to use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify alternative rTMS targets for participants that do not respond to stimulation at M1. The central aim is to evaluate the pain relieving efficacy of multi-session high-frequency M1 TMS for pain. In secondary exploratory analyses, the investigator propose to investigate patient characteristic that are predictive of responsive to M1 rTMS and identify viable alternative stimulation targets in non-responders to M1 rTMS.
Registry-reported information. Elapsed time and enrollment totals alone do not measure study progress or recruitment pace.
December 30, 2026
EstimatedPlanned date reported by the registry; this milestone is not confirmed as achieved.
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Some registry-reported names shown below are not yet linked in this graph.
Dates and qualifiers reported by the registry. Estimated dates do not confirm that a milestone has occurred.
April 25, 2022
Actual (reported)October 20, 2022
Actual (reported)October 25, 2022
Actual (reported)December 30, 2026
EstimatedPlanned date reported by the registry; this milestone is not confirmed as achieved.
December 30, 2026
EstimatedPlanned date reported by the registry; this milestone is not confirmed as achieved.
Change in Pain Intensity Over 2 weeks
Change in visual analog scores (VAS) of pain intensity on 0-100 mm scale. 0 indicates no pain, 100 indicates most pain imaginable.
Baseline and 2 weeks
Change in Pain Intensity Over 6 months
Baseline and 6 months
Change in Pain Unpleasantness Over 2 weeks
Baseline and 2 weeks
High frequency 10 Hz stimulation of motor cortex (M1)
Low frequency 1 Hz stimulation of motor cortex (M1)
Stimulation provided at 10 Hz over target brain regions in thirty trains consisting of 10 seconds of stimulation alternating with 50 seconds of rest (3,000 pulses/session)
Stimulation provided at 1 Hz over target brain regions in thirty trains consisting of 10 seconds of stimulation alternating with 50 seconds of rest (300 pulses/session)
UCSF Medical Center
San Francisco, California, 94158, United States
Apkarian AV, Baliki MN, Geha PY. Towards a theory of chronic pain. Prog Neurobiol. 2009 Feb;87(2):81-97. doi: 10.1016/j.pneurobio.2008.09.018. Epub 2008 Oct 5.
Arendt-Nielsen L, Morlion B, Perrot S, Dahan A, Dickenson A, Kress HG, Wells C, Bouhassira D, Drewes AM. Assessment and manifestation of central sensitisation across different chronic pain conditions. Eur J Pain. 2018 Feb;22(2):216-241. doi: 10.1002/ejp.1140. Epub 2017 Nov 5.
Julian C Motzkin, MD/PhD
University of California, San Francisco
Prasad Shirvalkar, MD/PHD
University of California, San Francisco
First Submitted
October 20, 2022
First Posted
October 25, 2022
Study Start
April 25, 2022
Actual (reported)Change in Pain Unpleasantness Over 6 months
Baseline and 6 months
Percent Responders
Baseline and 2 weeks
Percent Responders
Baseline and 6 months
Change in NIH PROMIS Toolbox Scores
Baseline and 6 months
Change in WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) Scores
Baseline and 6 months
Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS)
Baseline and 6 months
Registry-reported names are shown in full. Names without a link have not yet been matched to a Syfrah profile.
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Chou YH, Ton That V, Chen AY, Sundman M, Huang YZ. TMS-induced seizure cases stratified by population, stimulation protocol, and stimulation site: A systematic literature search. Clin Neurophysiol. 2020 May;131(5):1019-1020. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2020.02.008. Epub 2020 Mar 3. No abstract available.
Hosomi K, Sugiyama K, Nakamura Y, Shimokawa T, Oshino S, Goto Y, Mano T, Shimizu T, Yanagisawa T, Saitoh Y; TEN-P11-01 investigators. A randomized controlled trial of 5 daily sessions and continuous trial of 4 weekly sessions of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for neuropathic pain. Pain. 2020 Feb;161(2):351-360. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001712.
Lefaucheur JP, Andre-Obadia N, Antal A, Ayache SS, Baeken C, Benninger DH, Cantello RM, Cincotta M, de Carvalho M, De Ridder D, Devanne H, Di Lazzaro V, Filipovic SR, Hummel FC, Jaaskelainen SK, Kimiskidis VK, Koch G, Langguth B, Nyffeler T, Oliviero A, Padberg F, Poulet E, Rossi S, Rossini PM, Rothwell JC, Schonfeldt-Lecuona C, Siebner HR, Slotema CW, Stagg CJ, Valls-Sole J, Ziemann U, Paulus W, Garcia-Larrea L. Evidence-based guidelines on the therapeutic use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Clin Neurophysiol. 2014 Nov;125(11):2150-2206. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2014.05.021. Epub 2014 Jun 5.
Lefaucheur JP, Aleman A, Baeken C, Benninger DH, Brunelin J, Di Lazzaro V, Filipovic SR, Grefkes C, Hasan A, Hummel FC, Jaaskelainen SK, Langguth B, Leocani L, Londero A, Nardone R, Nguyen JP, Nyffeler T, Oliveira-Maia AJ, Oliviero A, Padberg F, Palm U, Paulus W, Poulet E, Quartarone A, Rachid F, Rektorova I, Rossi S, Sahlsten H, Schecklmann M, Szekely D, Ziemann U. Corrigendum to "Evidence-based guidelines on the therapeutic use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS): An update (2014-2018)" [Clin. Neurophysiol. 131 (2020) 474-528]. Clin Neurophysiol. 2020 May;131(5):1168-1169. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2020.02.003. Epub 2020 Feb 19. No abstract available.
Lerner AJ, Wassermann EM, Tamir DI. Seizures from transcranial magnetic stimulation 2012-2016: Results of a survey of active laboratories and clinics. Clin Neurophysiol. 2019 Aug;130(8):1409-1416. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2019.03.016. Epub 2019 Apr 6.
Leung A, Shirvalkar P, Chen R, Kuluva J, Vaninetti M, Bermudes R, Poree L, Wassermann EM, Kopell B, Levy R; and the Expert Consensus Panel. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Pain, Headache, and Comorbid Depression: INS-NANS Expert Consensus Panel Review and Recommendation. Neuromodulation. 2020 Apr;23(3):267-290. doi: 10.1111/ner.13094. Epub 2020 Mar 25.
O'Connell NE, Marston L, Spencer S, DeSouza LH, Wand BM. Non-invasive brain stimulation techniques for chronic pain. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2018 Apr 13;4(4):CD008208. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD008208.pub5.
Rossi S, Antal A, Bestmann S, Bikson M, Brewer C, Brockmoller J, Carpenter LL, Cincotta M, Chen R, Daskalakis JD, Di Lazzaro V, Fox MD, George MS, Gilbert D, Kimiskidis VK, Koch G, Ilmoniemi RJ, Lefaucheur JP, Leocani L, Lisanby SH, Miniussi C, Padberg F, Pascual-Leone A, Paulus W, Peterchev AV, Quartarone A, Rotenberg A, Rothwell J, Rossini PM, Santarnecchi E, Shafi MM, Siebner HR, Ugawa Y, Wassermann EM, Zangen A, Ziemann U, Hallett M; basis of this article began with a Consensus Statement from the IFCN Workshop on "Present, Future of TMS: Safety, Ethical Guidelines", Siena, October 17-20, 2018, updating through April 2020. Safety and recommendations for TMS use in healthy subjects and patient populations, with updates on training, ethical and regulatory issues: Expert Guidelines. Clin Neurophysiol. 2021 Jan;132(1):269-306. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2020.10.003. Epub 2020 Oct 24.
Primary Completion
December 30, 2026
EstimatedPlanned date reported by the registry; this milestone is not confirmed as achieved.
Study Completion
December 30, 2026
EstimatedPlanned date reported by the registry; this milestone is not confirmed as achieved.
Last Updated
October 14, 2026
Record last verified: 2026-10
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Source: ClinicalTrials.gov.
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