• Daniel Castro Bouzas, Ramón Serramito García, José Luis Relova Quinteiro, Alfonso Castro García, Begoña Ares Pensado, Angel Sesar Ignacio, and Miguel Gelabert-González.
• Servicio de Neurocirugía, Departamento de Cirugía, Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña, España.
• Neurocirugia. 2013 Jan 1; 24 (1): 37-40.

AbstractDeep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established surgical therapy for intractable movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and dystonia. As the number of treated patients has increased rapidly, new sets of problems about complications of DBS have arisen. Bowstringing is defined as abnormal tethering of leads between the pulse generators and stimulating electrode, associated with pain and contracture of the neck over the extension cable. We report the case of a 56-year-old woman with a history of advanced Parkinson's disease who had been treated by implantation of a bilateral, subthalamic nucleus, deep brain stimulator. A car accident caused the rupture of the right electrode, which was replaced. Six months after the replacement the patient presented disabling pain and tension in the neck where deep brain extension cables were located. A cervical incision was performed to excise scar tissue. Bowstringing is a rare complication of DBS and although patients sometimes report discomfort and tension in the cervical region, surgical procedures are not normally required.Copyright © 2011 Sociedad Española de Neurocirugía. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

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