Hi all. I wonder whether anyone feels able to share stories of the negative sides of DBS, please? Also, whether anyone knows anything about variation in the success figures between different hospitals for the DBS operation? (Speaking slightly facetiously: Michael J Fox gets the top surgeon in the world, but how do ordinary mortals gauge trust in their local neurological surgery team?!)
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Hi Simon49,
I don’t have anything negative to say about DBS really, having had it in July 2024.
I couldn’t find any statistics about success rates at different hospitals. I’m not sure whether anything is readily available. It is probably hard to compare success rates because I think it might be hard to define success consistently as the level of benefit achieved is likely to vary considerably between patients but I would have thought statistics on complications should be made available somewhere.
The benefit of DBS will not just depend on the surgery itself but the choice of device, the skill of the DBS nurse in programming it after surgery and your neurologist adjusting medication appropriately.
I spoke with some others who had DBS at the same hospital and with the same surgeon before I decided to go ahead. I also had a meeting with the surgeon and the DBS nurse I would be assigned to. I think I was lucky that my local hospital has a good reputation so I didn’t feel the need to look further afield.
Happy to discuss any aspect of my experience with DBS - just send me a message if you want to chat about it.
Thanks
Paul
Thanks very much, Paul. There are some very valid and relevant points there. 