A Modified Power-on Programming Method after Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson Disease

Abstract

Objective: To explore the feasibility of using a modified power-on programming method in deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson disease (PD).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study including 151 PD patients with bilateral robot-assisted DBS surgery from July 2017 to June 2020. Ninety-seven patients were adopted to the modified power-on programming method (Group I) and 54 patients were adopted to the traditional power-on programming method (Group II). In one-year follow-up, power-on programming duration, stimulation parameters, scores of Unified PD Rating Scale (UPDRS) and UPDRS-III of the 2 groups were recorded and compared.

Results: There were no significant differences in the postoperative UPDRS, UPDRS-III improvement rate, and stimulation parameters between the 2 groups. The duration of power-on programming of Group I (1.7 ± 1.1 hours) was significantly less than that of Group II (3.5 ± 1.8 hours, P < 0.0001).

Conclusions: The modified power-on programming method can achieve a similar clinical effect to the traditional method, with the advantage of more efficiency.

Keywords: Deep brain stimulation; Method; Parkinson disease; Programming.