Outcome in bipolar affective disorder after stereotactic tractotomy

Nine patients have been treated by subcaudate stereotactic tractotomy for bipolar affective disorder resistant to drug treatments. In the majority, after the operation there was a reduction in frequency and severity of depressive and manic episodes. There was a trend for the operation to have more effect on the manic than on the depressive phases. Drugs which had been inert previously sometimes became therapeutically useful after surgery.