Brain Surgery

[Guest guest]

Responding to the several posts regarding brain surgery and its potential

for helping with RLS, the television broadcast referenced pertained to a

procedure called pallidotomy. In this procedure, the surgeons precisely

locate a region of the brain that has become hyperactive and actually

destroy it by cooking the tissue. The procedure has been used successfully

in treating certain sufferers of Parkinson's disease and related movement

disorders who no longer respond successfully to medication. Candidates for

the procedure are carefully screened, as the procedure is seen as a last

option in treatment. There is obvious risk in the procedure and one of its

drawbacks is the permanent destruction of brain tissue.

Another procedure used to treat Parkinson's and other similar movement

disorder diseases is the deep brain stimulation. In this procedure, four

electrodes are carefully inserted into a specific region of the brain chosen

depending on the patients primary symptoms. Once in place, the electrodes

are electrically stimulated by a pacemaker type device surgically implanted

beneath the patient's collar bone. The electrical stimulation of these

regions of the brain have shown good results in decreasing patients' tremors

and dyskenisia, and improving patients' balance and walking. Again, this

treatment is considered a last option of treatment and patients are

carefully screened. The cost for this procedure is approximately $25,000.

In my research, I have not seen any writing pertaining to treating RLS with

either pallidotomy or DBS, but it is interesting that movement disorders

seem to respond well to the procedures. Additionally, DBS was originally

developed as a treatment to chronic pain, and for some of us, pain is our

primary symptom. But in my opinion, brain surgery for RLS is not a realistic

option. There's far too many meds that either alone or in combination offer

substantial assistance.