Recrudescent infection after deep brain stimulator reimplantation

The efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in treating the symptoms of movement disorders can be life changing for patients. Thus, the 5%-15% incidence of stimulator-related infection requiring removal of the device can be particularly disheartening. Although DBS system reimplantation is generally successful, this is not always the case. The literature is replete with publications describing the incidence of infection and the associated features. However, the literature is sparse in terms of information on the incidence of recurrent or recrudescent infection after system reimplantation. The goal of this paper was to evaluate factors leading to unsuccessful reimplantation of a DBS system following initial infection.

Data were reviewed for all DBS procedures performed by one surgeon (K.L.H.) over 19 years including the infectious agent, location of infection, treatment regimen, and subsequent reimplantation of a DBS system and long-term outcome.

In this series of 558 patients who had undergone DBS surgery, 37 (6.6%) subsequently developed an infection. Infections with methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, Enterobacter species, or coagulase-negative staphylococci were predominant. Four patients had cerebritis, one had meningitis, and the rest had soft tissue infections of the pocket or scalp. All had their entire DBS system explanted, followed by 4-6 weeks of intravenous antibiotics and surveillance for recrudescence for an additional period of at least 30 days. Twenty-five patients subsequently underwent DBS system reimplantation, and the procedure was successful in 22. Three of the 4 patients with cerebritis developed a subsequent wound infection after system reimplantation. None of the other 22 patients developed a recurrence. The odds ratio for developing a recurrent infection after cerebritis was 28.5 (95% CI 1.931-420.5, p = 0.007).

This study, the largest series of DBS system reimplantations following infection, demonstrated that most patients can have successful reimplantations without recurrent infection. However, patients who have had DBS-related cerebritis have a nearly 30-fold increased risk of developing reinfection after reimplantation. Alternative strategies for these patients are discussed.