Analgesia by electrostimulation of the trigeminal ganglion in patients with trigeminopathic pain: a PET activation study.

Electrostimulation of the trigeminal ganglion (TGES) has shown good results in treatment of trigeminopathic pain in selected patients. To map the mechanisms of TGES analgesia, we determined changes in relative regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in ten patients with trigeminopathic pain using positron emission tomography. The patients were scanned before stimulation (habitual pain), after short-term stimulation (1 min, stTGES) and after long-term stimulation (ltTGES).