Deep brain stimulation – Is there hope for obsessive compulsive disorder?

Abstract

Introduction

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a neurosurgical procedure under investigation for a range of psychiatric and neurological disorders. One of them is obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), which is a neuropsychiatric illness that often develops in childhood, affects 2% of the general population and causes significant impairment across the lifespan. Some cases are refractory to pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy and that is why new treatments have been investigated over the last decades.

Objectives/aims

In this paper, we intent to do a review of the literature about the efficacy of DBS in the treatment of OCD.

Methods

We present a literature review of some scientific articles found on Pubmed search using “deep brain stimulation and obsessive compulsive disorder/DBS and OCD”.

Results

Clinical outcome of DBS for OCD shows robust effects in many studies. It appears that most patients regain a normal quality of life after DBS, reporting changes in perception, feeling stronger and more confident, and doing things unreflectively. It seems that DBS is a valid alternative to lesional ablative neurosurgery for severe, therapy-refractory OCD patients, although with partially discrepant results probably related to differences in anatomical targeting and stimulation conditions.

Conclusions

DBS seems to be a promising modality for the treatment of some refractory psychiatric disorders such as OCD, but the search for the best target still continues. Randomized studies with larger samples are needed to establish the optimal targeting and stimulation conditions.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.