Psychological factors and outcome of electrode implantation for chronic pain.
The utility of using psychological assessments as a basis for predicting pain relief after electrode implantation is examined. Two raters independently reviewed the functional pain protocols of chronic pain patients who were candidates for deep brain (n = 13) or spinal cord (n = 17) electrode implants and predicted whether each would have a good or poor treatment response. At follow-up, five deep brain (39%) and four spinal cord (24%) patients were classified as having good responses to treatment. Predictions of outcome based on psychological data were accurate for 80% of the patients. These results suggest that functional pain assessment is useful as a part of preimplantation screening and emphasize the importance of psychological factors in the outcome of treatment for chronic pain.
D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004580:Electronarcosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology; D059408:Pain Management