Frameless stereotactic deep brain stimulation for parkinson’s disease: A case report and technical note

Because deep brain stimulation (DBS) implantations and other stereotactic and functional surgical procedures require accurate, precise, and safe targeting of the brain structure, the technical aids for preoperative planning, intervention, and postoperative follow-up have become increasingly important. In this paper, we introduce a case of advanced Parkinson’s disease with 10 years of medical control in which the patient received subthalamic nuclei (STN) DBS therapy through frameless surgery. A preliminary outcomes analysis is also provided. The STN DBS was implanted using a frameless stereotaxy protocol. After identifying the STN by microelectrode recording (MER), the DBS electrodes were implanted and connected to an implanted programmable generator. Programming started 1 month after the operation, and the patient was followed up on regularly and 12 months of post-STN DBS unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale were recorded. After 12 months of follow-up, the patient who received the frameless surgery showed a significant improvement in clinical motor functions compared with his preoperative scores. The frameless system has the advantage of providing accuracy in postoperative lead position survey and target deviation measurements with comparison to the preoperative planning image. The outcomes of frameless DBS surgery are similar to those of frame-based surgery, with the advantages being that frameless surgery can reduce the patient’s discomfort, shorten the operation and MER time, and decrease the MER trajectory number.