Sir Ganga Ram Hospital doctors perform rare surgery for patient suffering from Parkinson's disease

In view of her deteriorating health, the doctors decided to perform a rare surgery.

According to the statement by the hospital, "Savitri Devi was getting treated with medicines but her symptoms kept on worsening and she started developing side effects on the medicines. Without medications, she also lost her body movement and could not walk, turn, or get up from bed properly.

It stated, "With medications, she was not able to control her hands and legs and they would move without her control. She tried taking treatment at various hospitals but she did not improve and her symptoms kept getting worsening. She finally came to us where she was thoroughly evaluated and we gave her the option of Deep Brain Stimulation. "

Dr. Shrey Jain, Associate Consultant, Neurosurgery Department, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, "Deep Brain Stimulation is a new surgery where you stimulate particular brain areas. It acts just like the Pacemaker of the brain. In this case, we planned to stimulate the Subthalamic nucleus of the brain

The statement further said, "The surgery aims to help control the disease and improve the patient's lifestyle. It is particularly useful in diseases like Parkinson's disease, tremors and dystonia and has been evaluated and successfully shown positive results for psychiatric conditions like depression and mania. The minimally invasive surgery is done while the patient is awake during the whole surgery with the support of skilled anaesthetist and technicians with a backup of advanced gadgets".

"It is a minimally invasive surgery wherein electrodes are passed bilaterally in the deep brain through two small holes in the skull. Location was confirmed during surgery by examining the patient continuously and recording the brain's electric current," the statement said.

"Her speech, eye movements, and power of the limbs were monitored during the surgery and it was observed how her symptoms are improving so as to make sure the effect of the surgery is maximum with minimal complications. During surgery, she stopped speaking at one point so electrodes were repositioned and her speech came back. CT Scan was also done after the surgery to ensure the electrodes are in the correct position. Later, a battery was inserted in the chest wall like a pacemaker," she added further.

She stated, "Now the patient improved quite well after the surgery and can lead a normal life with no side effects from the medications. The dosage of the medications has been reduced."

However, According to Dr Ajit K. Sinha, Senior Consultant, Neurosurgery Department, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, "There are surgeries available now at very few selected places. Over 7 million people are suffering from Parkinson's disease alone in India and this disease can be debilitating. Other diseases which have shown positive results with Deep Brain Stimulation include tremors, dystonia, depression, OCD, epilepsy and chronic pain. With the advancing technology and surgical skills, people should be aware of such options so as to get the best chance to lead a normal life in spite of having these problems"