ON THE RECOMMENDATION of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons Section on Pain, a satellite conference was organized for the 1993 annual meeting to work toward a consensus regarding the indications, expected outcomes, and potential complications of neurosurgical procedures for intractable pain. Twenty-two experts in the field attended this 2-day conference to consolidate our understanding of the role of neurosurgical procedures in pain management and to review critically the methodologies for clinical studies. With the support of the Section on Pain, this consensus development process will continue in order to refine the application and study of neurosurgical procedures for pain.