One Side or Two? A Systematic Review of Deep Brain Stimulation Approaches in Movement Disorders

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established treatment for movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) and essential tremor (ET). However, the decision between unilateral, staged bilateral, or simultaneous bilateral DBS remains controversial, influenced by clinical presentation, patient preferences, and economic factors.

The aim was to compare motor score improvements, adverse events (AE), incremental benefits, and progression with unilateral to bilateral procedures and the rationale for second-side surgery.

This systematic review examined studies on patients treated with unilateral or bilateral (simultaneous or staged) DBS from 1999 to 2025, focusing on outcomes, safety, and efficacy.

In PD, unilateral DBS targeting the subthalamic nucleus (STN) or globus pallidus internus (GPi) improves motor scores by up to 37%, whereas bilateral DBS yields improvements of up to 66%. Unilateral DBS provides up to 75% improvement in contralateral symptoms but only up to 28% in ipsilateral symptoms. More than half of PD patients eventually opt for second-side surgery due to worsening symptoms. In ET, unilateral ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) DBS improves hand tremor by up to 89%, with staged bilateral procedures offering an additional 77% to 89% improvement contralaterally. Axial tremor improves by up to 60% with unilateral VIM DBS and a further 60% after bilateral surgery. Bilateral VIM DBS is linked to more AEs, such as gait disorders and dysarthria, whereas STN and GPi DBS have comparable risks. Staged surgeries are associated with longer surgical times and increased revisions and programming.

Individualized treatment decisions are essential, with bilateral DBS providing superior long-term outcomes for both PD and ET.