Neurostimulation, neuromodulation, and the treatment of epilepsies

Introduction.Neurostimulation and neuromodulation are techniques that may be able to affect the course of epilepsy. In the last 20 years, since the approval of VNS, we have observed a surge of studies assessing the potential of other devices and techniques for the treatment of pharmacoresistant epilepsies including deep brain stimulation (DBS), responsive neurostimulation (RNS), trigeminal nerve stimulation (TNS), transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). Are these devices and techniques simply another treatment option that can be offered to patients with epilepsy or do they offer specific advantages when compared to the standard antiepileptic drugs (AEDs)?