Deep Brain Stimulation
Restoring Function & Control for People with Severe Movement Disorders
For people with severe Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, or dystonia, everyday tasks, such as holding a glass of water, pose an extreme challenge. Medications may help for a while, but can become ineffective over time. Fortunately, there is an alternative.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a safe, effective treatment for relieving symptoms of severe movement disorders. DBS patients typically experience life-changing results. They may be able to drink from a glass, use a pen, or perform other tasks that were elusive before.
Science of Healing
See how SLUCare doctors are advancing surgical tools and techniques to treat patients with Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, dystonia and obsessive compulsive disorder.
SLUCare Stories: DBS
Learn more about what deep brain stimulation is, how it's being used to treat patients with movement disorders, and what it's like becoming a DBS patient at SLUCare.
What is DBS?
In a DBS procedure, a specially trained neurosurgeon implants tiny electrodes into areas of the brain that control movement. In a second procedure, the electrodes are attached to an implanted generator, similar to a heart pacemaker, which sends signals to the electrodes in the brain. Later, the generator is programmed by a neurologist, who determines the optimal setting for normalizing brain activity so that tremors, stiffness, slowness, involuntary movements and gait problems subside.
DBS is More Comfortable with SLUCare
SLUCare neurosurgeons have performed hundreds of DBS surgeries. They has developed and patented surgical tools that make DBS less invasive and more comfortable for patients. Among SLUCare's innovations is a collar that holds the patient's head throughout the procedure — without the cumbersome frame used by some neurosurgeons. It's an approach that helps patients, who are awake during surgery, to feel more at ease.
Using minimally invasive techniques has other benefits, too:
- Patients leave the hospital faster - often the next day.
- Patients recover and get back to their lives more quickly.
- Patients can be treated at younger ages, earlier in the disease process.
Deep Brain Stimulation Frequently Asked Questions
The ideal DBS candidate is someone with a severe movement disorder that is no longer controlled with medication. The patient's state of mind is also important. Patients with dementia or severe cognitive problems are not good candidates for DBS.
DBS is highly effective for patients with:
Physicians are currently researching DBS as a treatment for other conditions, as well:
No. DBS is not a cure for any disease. It is a treatment option that evens out the peaks and valleys that people with movement disorders experience: alternating between frozen and uncontrolled movements (dyskinesia). DBS gives you greater motion control and can reduce the number of medications you need, along with associated side effects.
It's important for our team to know that the electrodes are working before a patient leaves the operating room. Therefore, patients are kept sedated, but awake and able to respond to doctors during the procedure.
This approach has other benefits, too. General anesthesia can have unwanted neurological effects, important to avoid during brain surgery. Plus, avoiding general anesthesia shortens your hospital stay. In fact, most DBS patients go home the next day.
Even after you're referred to the SLUCare DBS team, your doctor can play an active role in your treatment. Our DBS physicians welcome your doctor's input at every stage of your care. Through teleconferencing, your doctor can consult with our team before or even during surgery. Our neurologist will also provide your doctor with instructions for follow-up care, so you can receive post-surgical treatment close to home.
After DBS surgery, our neurologist and nurse practitioner work together to program the generator for optimal movement control. You will continue to visit the doctor for adjustments, as needed. We may also recommend that you work with a physical or occupational therapist as you move off of your medications and into a post-surgical recovery. Our goal is to eliminate the need for most medications.
Finally, you will need to have the battery in the generator replaced every 4-6 years. This is a simple procedure that takes only about 20 minutes.