Haghdoost Faraidoon, Salam Abdul, Seyed-Kolbadi Fatemeh Zahra, Padala Deepika, Delcourt Candice, Rodgers Anthony
The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia.
The George Institute for Global Health, Hyderabad 500034, India.
Med Sci (Basel). 2025 Jun 26;13(3):84. doi: 10.3390/medsci13030084.
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive neuromodulation technique for migraine prevention. This study evaluates the efficacy of tDCS compared to sham in preventing episodic migraine in adults. PubMed and Embase databases were searched until May 2025 to identify randomized controlled trials comparing tDCS with sham for the prevention of episodic migraine in adults. Risk of bias in the included trials was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool version 2. A random effect meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effects of cathodal and anodal tDCS on migraine frequency (days per month and attacks per month). The meta-analysis included six trials with 172 participants (mean age 34 years, 82% females). Both cathodal (three studies, over the occipital area) and anodal (three studies, over the occipital or primary motor area) tDCS reduced the mean number of monthly migraine days and migraine attacks compared to sham. After pooling the outcomes and excluding two studies at high risk of bias, anodal tDCS over the occipital or primary motor area (standardized difference in means = -0.7, 95% CI: -1.7, 0.2, = 0.124) and cathodal tDCS over the occipital area (standardized difference in means = -0.7, 95% CI: -1.1, -0.3, = 0.000) reduced headache frequency compared to sham. However, the reduction with anodal tDCS was not statistically significant. tDCS may be effective in preventing episodic migraine. However, the evidence is limited by the small number of heterogeneous trials, with variation in electrode placement and stimulation intervals.
经颅直流电刺激（tDCS）是一种用于预防偏头痛的非侵入性神经调节技术。本研究评估了tDCS与假刺激相比在预防成人发作性偏头痛方面的疗效。检索了PubMed和Embase数据库至2025年5月，以确定比较tDCS与假刺激预防成人发作性偏头痛的随机对照试验。使用Cochrane偏倚风险工具第2版评估纳入试验的偏倚风险。进行随机效应荟萃分析以评估阴极和阳极tDCS对偏头痛频率（每月天数和每月发作次数）的影响。荟萃分析纳入了六项试验，共172名参与者（平均年龄34岁，82%为女性）。与假刺激相比，阴极tDCS（三项研究，枕区）和阳极tDCS（三项研究，枕区或初级运动区）均降低了每月偏头痛天数和偏头痛发作的平均数。汇总结果并排除两项高偏倚风险的研究后，枕区或初级运动区的阳极tDCS（均值标准化差异=-0.7，95%CI：-1.7，0.2，P=0.124）和枕区的阴极tDCS（均值标准化差异=-0.7，95%CI：-1.1，-0.3，P=0.000）与假刺激相比降低了头痛频率。然而，阳极tDCS的降低没有统计学意义。tDCS可能对预防发作性偏头痛有效。然而，证据受到少量异质性试验的限制，电极放置和刺激间隔存在差异。
