MRI-guided stereotactic cingulotomy as treatment for intractable pain in metastatic musculoskeletal cancer: Report of two cases

Cingulotomy as a treatment for chronic pain syndrome has been controversial for many years. However, with the improvement of radiological imaging technology and advances in stereotactic techniques, neurosurgeons can perform the operation more accurately and safely than before. Here we describe the cases of two patients with metastatic musculoskeletal cancer pain which was refractory to treatment with analgesic drugs who were treated with MRI-guided stereotactic cingulotomy. Postoperative pain scores showed an average of fifty percent improvement. The outcomes of treatment in these two cases suggest that cingulotomy may be an effective treatment for chronic pain syndrome in patients with metastatic cancer that causes intractable pain.