|  | Conditions Treatments | Neurological Disorders

Surgery for Parkinson's Disease

60,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease every year. There is no cure although medication can help control the symptoms. Doctors sometimes also perform surgery on patients to help bring relief from the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

  1. The Facts

    • Parkinson's disease is a motor systems disorder. A chronic degenerative disease that progresses slowly, it involves the death of brain cells that produce dopamine. Symptoms include trembling in the limbs and face muscles, rigidity in the trunk of the body and loss of coordination and balance. Doctors often prescribe medication to treat Parkinson's disease. They also recommend surgery in certain cases to help alleviate the symptoms of the disorder. These surgeries include lesion surgery, deep brain stimulation and neural grafting.

    Lesion Surgery

    • In lesion surgery for Parkinson's disease a surgeon targets tissue deep within the brain and burns it, creating small lesions. It is also called pallidotomy or thalamotomy, depending on the area of the brain that is targeted. The lesions are intended to destroy the part of the brain causing the tremors associated with Parkinson's and thereby stop the involuntary movements.

    Deep Brain Stimulation

    • Because lesion surgery permanently destroys brain tissue, surgeons have begun to prefer performing deep brain stimulation instead. In this surgery, a doctor implants a neurostimulator in the brain. This battery operated device delivers electrical stimulation deep within the brain, which interferes with the nerve signals that produce the tremors and stiffness of Parkinson's disease. No brain tissue is destroyed, so the surgery can be reversed. Also, the doctor can adjust neurostimulator to try to more efficiently block the patient's symptoms.

    Neural Grafting

    • The next stage in surgery for Parkinson's disease is still in the developmental stages. Doctors are exploring the possibilities that might be found in neural grafting. In this procedure, they hope to find a replacement for the brain tissue that does not function correctly for those with Parkinson's disease. Stem cells are one of the possible replacements that researchers are studying.

    Considerations

    • As with any medical procedure, surgery options for Parkinson's disease all carry some amount of risk. Those who undergo lesion surgery might experience personality changes, facial paralysis and vision problems. Patients can also experience marked weight gain. Surgical complications, including infection and bleeding, occur in about three percent of those who undergo deep brain stimulation. Depression has also been noted as a common reaction to the surgery.

Neurological Disorders - Related Articles