Combined stereotaxic surgery for relief of intractable pain.

We have carried out 43 of our standard combined stereotaxic thalamotomies in 37 patients with intractable pain. Our standard targets in thalamotomy for pain relief consisted of pulvinar, dorsomedial, centromedial, parafascicular and limitans nuclei. 91% of all the cases had excellent or good results. Six patients had bilateral thalamotomy because of severe relapse. Five patients developed mental disorientation and confusion after operation, but in a week returned to a normal state. One of the 37 patients died. Autopsy revealed cardiac infarction. On the basis of our results we consider the use of our standard targets to be most suitable for relieving intractable pain.