As the patient population with deep brain stimulators grows, medical personnel need to be comfortable managing these patients because they will likely encounter them in practice. Caring for a patient with a deep brain stimulator during surgery or a procedure requires technical knowledge of the device and its possible interactions in order to take the correct precautionary measures. Here we discuss the key issues and questions that should be covered in every preanesthetic evaluation visit of a patient with a deep brain stimulator along with an evaluation checklist.
Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St, CWN-L1 Boston, MA 02115 USA. Electronic address: asweinstein@partners.org.