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Reuse of internal pulse generator in cases of infection after deep brain stimulation surgery
Selcuk Gocmen1, Ozkan Celiker, Abdullah Topcu
1Department of Neurosurgery, Pamukkale University, Denizli, Turkey.
Background:
Hardware-related infection after deep brain stimulation (DBS) is one of the most serious complications and may need additional interventions.
Objectives:
To reuse the internal pulse generator (IPG) after DBS infection and to reduce the economic costs.
Methods:
A database of 102 patients who underwent DBS surgery was used in the study. The incidence, clinical characteristics and management of infections while reusing the IPG after DBS-related infection were analyzed and reported.
Results:
The overall infection rate was 5.9% (6 of 102 patients). Management consisted of total hardware removal followed by intravenous antibiotics. The IPG was at first kept in a solution, then rinsed with water and dried following sterilization with ethylene oxide gas at 38 °C for 18 h. When the treatment of the infection was finished, we reused the IPG and reimplanted the DBS. No hardware-related infection or other complications were observed after reimplantation.
Conclusions:
Management of hardware-related infections can be challenging. The medical and economic costs associated with these infections are enormous. The IPG can often be saved in infected patients. Thus, a significant cost burden is eliminated. Properly executed, reuse of IPG should markedly reduce the costs of these devices.
