Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation as a treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders

Abstract

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) have been widely studied as a therapeutic method in psychiatric disorders, specially in major depression. In this paper, we have compiled the information from studies concerning the use of rTMS as a therapeutic tool for anxiety disorders: panic disorder (PD), post-traumattic stress disorder (PTSD), generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and mainly obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).Three studies have been published concerning treatment of OCD with rTMS, but they are very different in their methods and in the application parameters and location, making it difficult to draw any conclusion about the efficacy of rTMS in this cases. Four studies published on PTSD also showed very ambiguous and hardly comparable data, but a recent double-blind study with positive results is discussed. Very few inicial investigations are available concerning PD and GAD. Conclusion: Although many studies are mentioned, thete is no conclusive data about the therapeutic efficacy of rTMS in anxiety disorders. It is mainly due to a large number of open-labelled studies with small sample sizes. Therefore, studies with a deeper approach are needed to provide this answers.