title: Preliminary guidelines for safe and effective use of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.
abstract: Transcranial magnetic stimulation has generated extensive interest within the traumatic brain injury (TBI) rehabilitation community, but little work has been done with repetitive protocols, which can produce prolonged changes in behavior. This is partly because of concerns about the safety of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in subjects with TBI, particularly the risk of seizures. These risks can be minimized by careful selection of the rTMS protocol and exclusion criteria. In this article, we identify guidelines for safe use of rTMS in subjects with TBI based on a review of the literature and illustrate their application with a case study. Our subject is a 48-year-old man who sustained a severe TBI 5 years prior to beginning rTMS for the treatment of post-TBI depression. After a 4-week baseline period, we administered daily sessions of low-frequency stimulation to the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for 6 weeks. After stimulation, we performed monthly assessments for 3 months. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD) was our primary outcome measure. The stimulation was well tolerated and the patient reported no side effects. After 6 weeks of stimulation, the patient's depression was slightly improved, and these improvements continued through follow-up. At the end of follow-up, the patient's HAMD score was 49% of the average baseline score.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH.
authors.forename: Dylan M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Nielson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH.
authors.forename: Curtis A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: McKnight
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH.
authors.forename: Riddhi N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Kalnin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH. Electronic address: w.mysiw@osumc.edu.
authors.forename: Walter J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Mysiw
mesh_terms: D001007:Anxiety / Q000534:rehabilitation; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D003863:Depression / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D050781:Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Brain injuries; Case report; Depression; Rehabilitation; Transcranial magnetic stimulation