CINGULOTOMY IN THE TREATMENT OF REFRACTORY PAIN: A CONTEMPORARY APPROACH
Abstract
Pain may be defined as a subjective experience that can be associated with actual or potential tissue damage and described either in terms of this damage or both. Regarding pain management, neurosurgical procedures are indicated for therapeutic approaches to pain refractory to pharmacological treatment, physical therapy, psychotherapy and anesthetic blocks. Experimental studies have shown that the anterior cingulate cortex is involved in the perception of pain, especially the affective component. Therefore, anterior cingulotomy is characterized by an ablative neurosurgical procedure of the anterior cingulate cortex, used mainly in the treatment of chronic pain refractory to pharmacotherapy. The present study was obtained by selecting articles between July and August 2024 from the following electronic databases: Periódicos CAPES, Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde (BVS), Virtual Health Library (PubMed) and ScienceDirect. The descriptors used were: “cingulotomy”, “pain” and “pain refractory”. After screening, 5 articles were selected for the study. The results indicate a significant correlation between cingulotomy and a reduction in chronic pain. The data reveals a decrease in the VAS score after the surgical procedure, suggesting that cingulotomy is effective for patients with refractory pain. The limitations of this study include the limited number of articles. Therefore, future research should focus on expanding the study samples.
Author Biographies
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás.
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás.
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás.
Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás.
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