Bilateral Anterior Cingulectomy for the Relief of Intractable Pain

Bilateral anterior cingulectomies were performed on 23 patients for the relief of intractable pain. 19 patients suffered from pain due to metastatic disease, 3 from arachnoiditis and 1 from a phantom limb syndrome. Of those patients suffering from pain due to metastatic disease, 10 (52.1%) obtained pain relief. Among the patients suffering from arachnoiditis, 1 obtained pain relief. The case of phantom limb syndrome also obtained relief from pain. Combining all the patients, we were able to relieve the pain symptoms in only 12 out of the 23 patients (52.2%). We cannot recommend this operation for the relief of pain.