Deep brain stimulation is a specialized treatment used for the treatment of movement disorders such as dystonia, Parkinson’s disease, and essential tremors. It is a neurosurgical procedure that involves the placement of a device called deep brain simulator, which sends signals to specific areas of the brain to stop the symptoms associated with a movement disorder. People suffering from Parkinson’s disease show symptoms of tremor, stiffness, rigidity, slowed movement, etc. Deep Brain Stimulation helps ease tremor and improves the stiffness and slowness in a remarkable manner.
Deep Brain Stimulation in India
Deep brain stimulation is conducted across all major neuro surgery hospitals in India. This is a highly sensitive and crucial procedure that includes the placement of electrodes within specific areas of the brain that trigger symptoms associated with the motor disorder. This is why this procedure must be operated by only an experienced and skilled surgeon. India is known for its brigade of highly qualified brain surgeons who are mostly educated from the best medical universities in the world.
Every so often, Deep Brain Stimulation is regarded as the Pacemaker for the brain due to its similar functionalities with the Pacemaker which is used for heart-related problems. Deep Brain Stimulation is mostly operated on patients who find it difficult to control their disease through medication.
Dystonia patients get relief with the help of DBS as it relaxes muscles and improves irregular posture which is caused by muscle contraction. Taking everything into account, Deep Brain Stimulation helps enrich the quality of life of its patients.
Brain Surgery Cost in India
Foremost, it is vital to understand that Deep Brain Stimulation is not a permanent solution. It just helps the patients to deal with the disease in the most efficient way possible.
Secondly, as per the National Parkinson’s Foundation, the cost of Deep Brain Stimulation in one of the leading western countries such as the United States of America ranges from $70,000 to $100,000. However, the cost of Deep Brain Stimulation in India is much cheaper than the rest of the world. The cost of DBS in India goes down approximately 60 to 90 percent compared to the cost of the western world. An average person can easily afford the Deep Brain Stimulation procedure in India as it ranges between USD $20,000 to USD $30,000. An important thing to note before undergoing the procedure of Deep Brain Stimulation is that the cost of DBS purely depends on various factors such as –
Selection of the hospital i.e., private or government.
Selection of battery i.e., rechargeable or non-rechargeable
Selection of room i.e., single or semi-private
- In India average cost of Brain Surgery is USD $20,000 to USD $30,000
Deep Brain Stimulation Treatment in India
Undergoing DBS Treatment in India makes a lot of sense for those Parkinson Disease patients for whom DBS has been advised. Given the fact that India has some of the best doctors in the world coupled with the fact that the cost of DBS treatment in India is far lower than other parts of the world, make it an attractive proposition.
To understand the cost of deep brain stimulation treatment in India, one has to first determine the factors to see if DBS is a good option to go in for. This is based on each patient’s diagnosis and condition, the degree to which medication is not impacting the patient, age and other factors such as support from family .
To evaluate the treatment prognosis, usually a team of specialists are involved. This includes neurosurgeon, neurologist, clinical neuropsychologist, nurse and other medical team members.
As a patient who has been advised to go in for Deep Brain Stimulation treatment, you should have a set of questions ready to ask your doctor or medical team. Some of these questions could be:-
- Success levels of DBS treatment in India. Find out how successful the team has been in treating patients with Parkinson’s disease with DBS treatment in India
- Get case histories of other patients who have undergone similar treatment at the hands of the same team and ask these patients how their experience has been, the degree to which they have managed to get their motor movements back
- Get a detailed break up of the deep brain stimulation treatment cost at the hospital where you will be treated including cost of treatment, hospital care and post treatment costs.
- Determine how regularly you will be required to continue visiting the hospital after your treatment
- Find comparative costs with other specialized hospitals in your city as the treatment costs may vary from center to center
- How many DBS surgeries have been taken place at this center?
- How many surgeries are performed each month or yearly?
- Does the center use microelectrode recording?
Microelectrode recording means, using a special, thin electrode that allows the surgeon and neurologist to precisely locate the target site of the brain. You can ask these questions to neurologist, neurosurgeon or nurse during your visit to DBS center.
9 Will the both sides of the brain be operated on during the same surgery?
10 Or separate surgery will be performed for each side?
Either leads may be implanted in one surgery, or each side may perform as a separate surgery, depending upon the individual situation. It is safer in some cases to have the leads implanted in different procedures.
These are some of the questions that family members or the patient himself should ask the center where the proposed DBS treatment is planned to be done. Do remember the deep brain stimulation is a surgical procedure and therefore it is imperative to ask all the relevant questions of your medical team before the procedure.
