Stereotactic surgery for subthalamic nucleus stimulation under general anesthesia: a retrospective evaluation of Japanese patients with Parkinson's disease.

We compared retrospectively the outcome of bilateral subthalamic nucleus (STN) stimulation in 15 patients with Parkinson's disease who underwent the procedure under general anesthesia (GA) with that achieved in 10 patients under local anesthesia (LA). At 3 months postoperatively, all cardinal parkinsonian motor symptoms, evaluated on Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale were significantly improved compared to preoperative baselines in both groups. The administration of GA did not adversely affect postoperative improvements in motor and daily activity scores, except for off-medication bradykinesia. Our results suggest that GA compares favorably with LA in surgical procedure for bilateral STN stimulation.