Although performing deep brain stimulation (DBS) with the patient under general anesthesia without microelectrode recording (MER) or intraoperative test stimulation (ITS) for movement disorders ("asleep" DBS) has become increasingly popular, its feasibility is based on the untested assumption that stereotactic accuracy correlates with positive clinical outcomes. To investigate outcomes after asleep DBS without MER or neurophysiological testing, we reviewed the medical literature on the topic.
We searched PubMed to identify all studies reporting clinical outcomes for patients who underwent DBS without MER or ITS for Parkinson's disease (PD) or essential tremor (ET).
We identified 9 studies with level 3b (n=3) or level 4 evidence (n=6). Eight PD studies (220 patients) reported asleep placement of 431 electrodes (341 subthalamic nucleus, 90 globus pallidus interna). Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor examination (UPDRS-III) scores for 208 patients demonstrated significant improvement (40.2-65%) at 6-12 months. The levodopa equivalent daily dose (LEDD) for 115 patients was significantly reduced (14-49.3%) at 6-12 months in 103 patients. Two studies with a comparison cohort undergoing "awake" DBS with MER found no differences in postoperative UPDRS-III improvement or LEDD reduction. One study of asleep DBS for ET found no difference in functional outcomes between 17 patients undergoing asleep ventral intermediate nucleus DBS and 40 patients undergoing awake placement with ITS.
Initial evidence suggests that asleep DBS can be performed safely for PD and ET with good clinical outcomes. Long-term follow-up, larger cohorts, and double-armed studies are needed to validate these initial results.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
2
2%
Computer Science
2
2%
Other
5
6%
Unknown
29
35%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 12 May 2018.
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