DBS is a well-known treatment for dystonia in children. Electrode implantation accuracy is multifactorial and remains a difficulty in this age group, owing to smaller anatomical targets in very young children compared to adults, as well as anatomical anomalies commonly associated with various dystonia etiologies. The goal of this study was to see how accurate robot-assisted DBS lead placement was in a group of patients with childhood-onset dystonia. Between 2017 and 2019, 45 children with dystonia who had DBS leads implanted under general anaesthesia were included in the study. The DBS leads were implanted using a robot-assisted stereotactic procedure. An intraoperative 3D scanner was used to confirm the electrodes’ ultimate location (O-arm).
There were 90 DBS electrodes implanted in all, with 48.5 percent of the patients being female. The average age of the participants was 11.0 0.6 years (range 3–18 years). All of the patients had a DBS electrode implanted in the globus pallidus internus on both sides. In the x-, y-, and z-axes, the median absolute errors were 0.85 mm (range 0.00–3.25 mm). There were no severe perioperative problems. In the paediatric age group, robot-assisted stereotactic insertion of DBS electrodes is a safe and accurate surgical procedure. In comparison to earlier research that used traditional stereotactic frame-based procedures, this cohort had higher accuracy. Robotic DBS surgery and neuroradiological advancements may lead to even better surgical targeting.
Reference Link – https://thejns.org/pediatrics/view/journals/j-neurosurg-pediatr/27/6/article-p677.xml
