Subthalamic and Pallidal Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson’s Disease

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical treatment in which stimulation electrodes are permanently implanted in basal ganglia to treat motor fluctuations and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus internus (GPi) are the commonly used targets for DBS in PD. Many studies have compared motor and non-motor outcomes of DBS in both targets. However, the selection of PD patients for DBS targets is still poorly studied. Therefore, we performed this narrative review to summarize published studies comparing STN DBS and GPi DBS. GPi DBS is better for patients with problems in speech, mood, or cognition while STN DBS is better from an economic point of view as it allows much reduction in antiparkinson medications and less battery consumption.