Symptomatic, left-sided deep brain stimulation lead edema 6 h after bilateral subthalamic nucleus lead placement

BACKGROUND: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) lead edema can be a serious, although rare, complication in the postoperative period. Of the few cases that have been reported, the range of presentation has been 33 h–120 days after surgery. CASE DESCRIPTION: We report a case of a 75-year-old male with a history of Parkinson’s disease who underwent bilateral placement of subthalamic nucleus DBS leads that resulted in symptomatic, left-sided lead edema 6 h after surgery, which is the earliest reported case. CONCLUSIONS: DBS lead edema is noted to be a self-limiting phenomenon. It is critical to recognize the possibility of lead edema as a cause of postoperative encephalopathy even in the acute phase after surgery. Although it is important to rule out other causes of postoperative changes in the patient examination, the recognition of lead edema can help to avoid extraneous diagnostic tests or DBS lead revision or removal.