Why Choose the Barrow DBS Program?

Ease of Becoming a Patient

Patients can access the Barrow DBS program at any point in their preparation for DBS surgery. Our DBS program coordinator and staff will help “navigate” you through the process based upon your individual needs. Whether you are initially considering DBS surgery or have decided to undergo the procedure and completed your medical preparation, we can help. Our staff will schedule your appointments quickly and assist you with collecting your medical records.

Asleep DBS Surgery

Recent advancements in intraoperative imaging and computer-guided neurosurgery have made it possible to perform DBS surgery under general anesthesia. Previously, patients had to remain awake, but sedated during DBS surgery. Asleep DBS surgery offers multiple benefits over traditional awake DBS surgery, including:

• greater patient comfort
• no need to stop Parkinson’s medications before surgery
• greatly decreases the duration of the surgical procedure
• no cellular recording is required

Learn more about asleep DBS surgery at Barrow Neurological Institute.

Travel Assistance and Accommodation

With greater than 10% of our patients coming to the Barrow DBS Program from out of state, we have created an efficient and organized process for scheduling preoperative evaluations, surgery, follow-up care, and DBS device programming. For your initial evaluation, you will be seen over a consecutive 2-day period. At this time, you will meet with a movement disorder neurologist, a neuropsychologist, and your neurosurgeon. You will also undergo an MRI scan.

Our hospital concierge can assist you with transportation and hotel accommodations if needed. For surgery, postoperative care, and programming, we schedule your appointments to coincide with one another, making your trips to Barrow as efficient as possible.

DBS Patient Connect Program

The Barrow DBS Patient Connect Program does exactly that: it connects patients who have undergone DBS surgery with patients considering surgery. Our DBS program coordinator keeps an updated list of patients who are willing to share their experiences regarding the DBS surgery process with those who are considering surgery. Many of our patients remain in touch with one another and share their DBS experiences with several support groups in the area. If you are considering DBS surgery and want to learn more about the patient experience, our DBS coordinator would be happy put you in touch with a former patient.

Superior Patient Education

The Barrow DBS program offers a free DBS education class every Tuesday from 10:00 – 11:30 AM. This class is open to all patients in the community considering DBS surgery—you do not need to be a patient at Barrow to attend. Individual classes on alternate days can be arranged, as well as classes for Spanish-speaking patients and families.

Excellent Follow Up and Postoperative Care

Our DBS doctors and clinicians establish a lasting relationship with our patients from the very first encounter. We stay in contact throughout the process and are available to reinforce information and answer questions both before and after your DBS surgery. We are happy to respond to pre- and postoperative calls, meet you during hospital visits, and provide ongoing follow up for 6 months to 1 year after surgery. We want to make sure that you have a great outcome and an improvement in your quality of life.

How can we help you?