Updates in the Treatment of Post-Stroke Pain.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW:

To provide an overview of the current treatment strategies for common subtypes of post-stroke pain.

RECENT FINDINGS:

There is growing research interest in non-pharmacological treatment approaches for chronic pain, including neurostimulation as well as lifestyle and psychosocial interventions. Newer pharmacotherapy research includes cannabinoids and NMDA-receptor antagonists as well as bee venom. Persistent post-stroke headache is an increasingly appreciated entity, though the role of novel chronic migraine treatments for post-stroke headache is not known. Overall, most treatment approaches to post-stroke pain lack high-quality evidence. Stroke survivors are in need of effective treatments based on methodologically sound evidence. To address the interplay of clinical and psychosocial factors that contribute to post-stroke pain, it may be reasonable to adopt a multimodal treatment strategy incorporating both lifestyle interventions and conventional therapies.