Your short-term follow-up
The hospitalization post-operation generally lasts a week. The scar is also carefully taken care of.
Starting the ventilation system generally happens on the very day of the intervention, and the stimulation’s parameters are gradually adjusted by the neurologist and the neurosurgeon. The medication treatments used as complement are also adjusted.
You will have a control system over your system in order to check in on how efficient it is, if necessary.
Your long-term follow-up
Repeated adjustments to the stimulation and a parallel adjustment to the medication treatment are necessary to achieve a stable motor function, especially over the course of the first year after the operation. The anti-Parkinson treatment is even more reduced since only the benefits of the stimulation alone matter.
A long-term follow-up is needed, with your treating neurologist, your expert center and your treating doctor so as to adjust your medication treatment and detect eventual complications or behavior changes. If your Parkinson-like symptoms get worse over time, the stimulation parameters will be increased. The stimulation parameters will be adjusted case-by-case if any abnormal movements occur.
Risks and complications
Deep-brain stimulation presents a variety of risks, as would any surgical intervention, especially a risk of hemorrhage. An intracerebral bruise occurring could cause neurological deficiencies whose severity would vary depending on the size and the location of the lesion.
Secondary infectious complications because of the implantation of foreign material are possible (in 2% of all cases) thus justifying the removal of the material until its healed and until any further reimplantation.
Other complications due to the implantation of the material have been described but they have become rare: a break in the connection cable, a break or a dislocation of electrodes, malfunction of the neurostimulator.
Secondary effects as muscular spasms or visual difficulties can occur, sometimes temporarily, depending on the anatomic target.
During the period of fine-tuning the stimulation’s parameters and adapting the treatment, one might also go through paresthesias, dyshartria, an aggravation of the stability in one’s posture, monocular deviations, vegetative stages – nausea, heat-strokes, sweating, fainting spells.