Treatment of Pain in Multiple Sclerosis — Preliminary Report

Abstract

SEVERE pain may be the first manifestation of multiple sclerosis (MS), and this pain may mimic that of several common syndromes, including angina pectoris, sciatica, cervical radiculitis and tic douloureux. Neurologists have recognized this relation since 1872, when Charcot¹ referred to shoulder and pelvic girdle pains as symptoms of MS. In 1950 Carter, Sciarra and Merritt² reported that pain occurred in 13 per cent of their cases of MS. No satisfactory therapy for this pain has previously been known.In a group of 35 consecutive, unselected patients with MS, seen by me during a two-year period at the Boston Veterans . . .