Deep brain stimulation for the improvement of movement disorders and pain is now a well-established therapy. A strange fact here is that very little has been published on the topic of hardware failure in the treatment of such conditions irrespective of clinical results are. Such device-related problems can cause significant patient morbidity and increased cost of therapy in the form of prolonged antibiotics, in-patient hospitalization, device replacement and repeat surgery.
Comparing the advantages and disadvantages of a DBS technique
ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES
The stimulations of DBS are adjustable.It can be programmed noninvasively to alter stimulation in the brain to maximize therapy and minimize side effects. The …show more content…
DBS vitally requires the time and effort on the part of the patient and the surgical therapy team for programming and medication adjustments that are required for optimal control of symptoms.
Nevertheless, in the Western economies, deep brain stimulation therapy continues to expand. Due to this, the implications of hardware-related complications cannot be overlooked. Such complications will without a doubt be reflected in over a period of time in hospital, long-term use of antibiotics, repeat surgery to remove or replace devices, and the associated loss of patient benefit.
Prognosis of DBS
Even after the surgical process, a considerable number of patients still need to take medication. Many patients experience considerable drop of their PD symptoms and are able to greatly reduce their medications. The amount of this drop varies from patient to patient but can be significantly reduced in most patients. The reduction in dose of medication results in a significant improvement in side effects such as dyskinesias (involuntary movements caused by long-term use of levodopa). In some cases, the stimulation itself can subduedyskinesias without a reduction in …show more content…
Depending on the current model, IPGs have an ability to accommodate either one or two electrodes. After this, the IPG is programmed transcutaneously via a PDA-like device with a magnet. The patient is given a controller with which they can use to turn the device on and off. Some IPGs can also be programmed to allow the patient to change the voltage within a particular defined set limit. It is likely that some technological features of this therapy will be improved in the near future.
In the future, there is a need to develop ways of simplifying the process of programming and adjusting stimulation factors, which is now being developed with artificial neural networks for spinal cord stimulator programming. The identification of the ideal surgical candidates and the most responsive clinical symptoms in each condition, as well as the expansion of surrogate electrophysiologic and imaging markers contribute to enhancedresults and lessen the amount of postoperative time spent for