No, it does not stop you from any other future options for treatment. 

 It is for both.

Dr. S. Navin performed on more than 2.5,00,00 patients around the world. It is expected to give significant improvement in quality of life of Parkinson’s disease patient. It is known to increase the duration of on period from anywhere from 3 to 6 hours per day and also remove side effects associated with medications. In many cases it also helps in reduction in medication or even stopping the medications.

Usually, the titration period following DBS is around 2 to 3 months, especially for Parkinson’s disease. However, it may sometimes take a longer or shorter period, depending on the expertise and experience of the centre offering DBS.

DBS has now been advised for even early motor fluctuations. If your quality of life is affected by Parkinson’s disease and it cannot be further improved by the medical management by the treating physician then it is worth exploring the option of the brain stimulation.

Ideally, there is no age limit for DBS. However, in case of elderly patient, it is advisable to look for an expert center that has a significant amount of experience of operating elderly patients, especially patients above 70.

The common intercurrent disease like diabetes or hypertension are not a contra indication for DBS. However, they require careful pre-operative and post-operative care and medical management which your center should be able to provide.

The main advantage of DBS are prolongation of on duration, reduction in off period symptoms, reduction in motor fluctuation, reduction in dyskinesia’s and also reduction in medication.

The type of anaesthesia is usually decided by the surgical team. Most of the centers perform this surgery under awake condition. However, there are several centers now offering this surgery under asleep condition or under anaesthesia for some patients who may not be able to tolerate open surgery.

Now even if the patient is awake, they may not feel significant pain or discomfort. However, they will definitely notice some procedure being performed over their head.

The risks of surgery are dependent on the expertise and experience of the center. It has been found by various research studies that the longer the duration of the procedures being performed by a single center and the number of surgeries performed by a single surgeon are directly proportionate to the amount of risks involved. It means that a surgeon who has more than 15 years of experience and has done more than 200 surgeries would have lesser risk of procedure related complication as compared to a young neurosurgeon who is just starting performing the surgery. The major risks of the surgery include haemorrhage and infection and this all should be < 4%-5%. The risk of haemorrhage should not exceed 2% for given center.

Usually, the surgical benefits I realised within first 3 months after surgery itself.

The modern DBS systems allows patient not only to control the device up to a certain extent but also to choose between several programmes which their physician may be able to offer them in order to significantly improved her quality of life.

Usually, the centers performing DBS have something a hotline service where you can access the Medical Team for any kind of questions or emergencies. However, the patient is advised to enquire with their center for this facility.

This varies from center to center, and it can range from 3 days to 10 days.

Usually within 3-4 weeks.

Yes, most of the health insurance now covered deep brain stimulation surgery.

This will depend upon center to center and in most centers, they will be able to provide you with not one but several contact numbers.

Yes, you can have both the pacemaker implanted in the same patient.

A small bump can be seen on the chest wall and a thin wire like structure may be seen in the neck, this is especially common in patients that have a low body fat.

Long-term follow up studies and postpartum examinations have revealed that DBS therapy does not cause any significant amount of neuronal damage.

No, you cannot go through the scanning system at the airport and they will have to do a physical check for you. You cannot actually undergo any metal detector examination.