Surgery
Surgery can be used to treat Parkinson's disease, but it is only recommended for a minority of patients. Currently, no operations offer a cure for Parkinson's disease, although they offer benefits for some patients by improving certain symptoms and reducing the need for medication.
Brain surgery for Parkinson's disease can produce severe complications, such as memory problems, impaired vision, or stroke. Because of these risks and the unpleasant nature of the operations, surgery is only considered for patients who are severely ill, have found all other treatments ineffective, and, aside from their Parkinson's disease, and are in a generally good state of health.
There are three main types of surgery for Parkinson's disease, as listed below.
- Lesioning - involves destroying the specific part of the brain that is causing Parkinson's disease symptoms. The operation is named after the part of the brain that is destroyed (see figure below).
- Deep brain stimulation (DBS) - Involves implanting a device into the brain and the chest wall. Electrical signals are sent from the chest wall to specific areas of the brain, and this prevents the activity of these brain areas. This technique does not destroy any brain tissue. In similarity to lesioning, DBS can be referred to as thalamic, pallidal or subthalamic, depending upon which brain area is targeted.
- Nerve cell transplantation - this technique is still experimental, but it involves implanting dopamine-producing nerve cells into the brain to replace those that have been lost in Parkinson's disease.
Please note that this document is part of the Parkinson's disease handbook. Please fell free to download the full Parkinson's disease handbook from the right-hand toolbox if you would like to learn more.
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