The use of neurosurgery to treat pain has dramatically dropped over the last few decades because of improvements in other approaches and better understanding of its long term complications.

In unusual situations, however, neurosurgical techniques may be helpful. One that is sometimes useful for pain control in a specific part of the body is cordotomy: cutting a small and very specific area of the spinal cord that carries pain messages to the brain.

Like nerve blocks, neurosurgery is best done by a neurosurgeon with a great deal of experience and training in treating pain.