N/A
N=62
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Musculoskeletal Pain in Patients With Parkinson's Disease
Parkinson's Disease · Musculoskeletal Pain · Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation · Primary Motor Cortex · Electroencephalography
Bottom Line
View on ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05537597 ↗Enrolled (actual)
62
Serious AEs
0.0%
Results posted
Feb 2026
Primary outcome: Primary: Change From Baseline Over 2 Months (Group by Time Interaction) in Modified KING'S PD Pain Scale Domain 1 — 12.41; 13.64; 9.96; 14.71 units on a scale
Study Design & Population
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- N/A
- Interventions
- active M1-rTMS (Procedure); sham rTMS (Procedure)
- Age
- Adult, Older Adult · 40+ yrs
- Sex
- All
- Sponsor
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University
- Primary completion
- Dec 2024
Outcome Measures
| Outcome | Result | p-value |
|---|---|---|
| PRIMARY Change From Baseline Over 2 Months (Group by Time Interaction) in Modified KING'S PD Pain Scale Domain 1 |
12.41; 13.64; 9.96; 14.71; 10.61; 15.84 | — |
| PRIMARY Change From Baseline Over 2 Months (Group by Time Interaction) in KING'S PD Pain Scale Domain 1 |
6.55; 6.95; 5.78; 7.49; 5.63; 7.79 | — |
| PRIMARY Change in 0-10 Numeric Rating Scale |
3.89; 4.26; 3.34; 4.42; 3.49; 4.81 | — |
| SECONDARY Changes in Resting-state EEG Oscillations |
0.89; 1.05; 0.83; 1.16 | — |
| SECONDARY Changes in Movement Disorder Society-Unified PD Rating Scale Part I |
10.77; 11.38; 10.92; 11.35; 10.76; 11.99 | — |
| SECONDARY Change in Movement Disorder Society-Unified PD Rating Scale Part II |
11.17; 12.05; 11.26; 12.18; 11.54; 12.51 | — |
| SECONDARY Change in Movement Disorder Society-Unified PD Rating Scale Part III |
27.69; 29.25; 27.62; 29.91; 29.23; 31.51 | — |
| SECONDARY Change in Movement Disorder Society-Unified PD Rating Scale Part IV |
3.15; 3.30; 2.85; 3.40; 2.86; 3.53 | — |
| SECONDARY Changes in Hamilton Depression Scale |
9.28; 10.83; 9.19; 10.95; 10.29; 12.40 | — |
| SECONDARY Changes in Hamilton Anxiety Scale |
10.20; 11.11; 10.15; 11.25; 10.72; 11.95 | — |
| SECONDARY Changes in PD Sleep Scale-2 |
11.14; 13.58; 11.12; 14.57; 11.33; 14.68 | — |
| SECONDARY Changes in Epworth Sleeping Scale |
6.92; 8.85; 8.44; 8.29; 8.17; 9.10 | — |
| SECONDARY Changes in PD for Autonomic Symptoms |
15.61; 16.83; 14.73; 16.84; 14.95; 16.68 | — |
| SECONDARY Changes in PD Questionnaire-39 |
29.12; 34.60; 26.03; 34.04; 28.10; 36.71 | — |
Summary
Pain is an increasingly recognized non-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD), with significant prevalence and negative impact on the quality of life of patients.
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) of the primary motor cortex（M1）has been proposed to provide definite analgesic effect for pain syndromes. However, very few placebo-controlled studies have been performed specifically to relieve pain in PD. What's more, based on behavioral measures alone, it is impossible to reveal the full network dynamics reflecting the impact of TMS.
Electroencephalography (EEG), with high temporal resolution, records signal that its origin in electrical neural activity, which makes it suitable for measuring TMS-evoked activation. By recording the TMS induced neuronal activation directly from the cortex, TMS-EEG provides information on the excitability, effective connectivity of cortical area, thus exploring cortical network properties in different functional brain states. In addition, the use of EEG offers great prospects as a tool to select the right patients in order to achieve adequate, long-term pain relief.
Besides assessing the efficacy and safety of high-frequency neuronavigated M1-rTMS in PD patients with musculoskeletal pain, the objective of this study additionally aimed to characterize cortical activation behind pain relief. Influence on motor and other non-motor symptoms after rTMS were also investigated.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- Idiopathic PD was diagnosed according to the 2015 Movement Disorder Society (MDS) clinical diagnostic criteria
- Hoehn and Yahr stages of I to III
- musculoskeletal pain was detected based on the Ford classification system for pain in PD. Pain duration of at least 3 months, with continuous moderate intensity pain (≥ 3/10 on a 0-10 numerical rating scale) occurring at least three days per week.
- stable antiparkinsonian therapy for ≥4 weeks
Exclusion Criteria
- Contraindications to rTMS
- unstable ongoing psychiatric disorder, history of substance abuse (alcohol, drugs)
- histories of deep brain stimulation surgery
- Mini-mental State Examination scores ≤24
- Other pain conditions, such as apparent osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis depended on laboratory or imaging findings
Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05537597). Outcome figures and adverse-event rates are extracted automatically from the registry's posted results and are provided for clinician reference, not as a substitute for the primary publication.