Comparison of Subthalamic Nucleus and Globus Pallidus Internus Deep Brain Stimulation Surgery on Parkinson Disease–Related Pain

To analyze and compare the effects of subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) and globus pallidus internus (GPi)-DBS on Parkinson disease (PD)-related pain. A retrospective study was performed of 64 patients (28 who underwent GPi-DBS and 36 who underwent STN-DBS) with PD-related pain in our hospital between January 2017 and July 2019. A numerical rating scale (NRS) was used to evaluate the degree of pain preoperatively and 4 months after operation, and the unified PD scale III (UPDRS-III) was completed simultaneously to assess motor symptoms. The average NRS score of all 64 patients after surgery was 1.09 ± 1.39, which was significantly lower than that before operation (4.44 ± 1.67; P < 0.0001). The improvement rate of NRS was 75 ± 27% in the 28 GPi-DBS patients and 79 ± 27% in the 36 STN-DBS patients, with no significant difference (P = 0.577). The improvements in NRS and UPDRS-III were significantly correlated in the STN-DBS group (r = 0.3707, P = 0.026) but not significantly correlated in the GPi-DBS group (P = 0.516). Both GPi-DBS and STN-DBS were effective for analyzing PD-related pain and seemed to have similar efficacy. This study provides an important first-step toward determining different DBS targets for controlling PD-related pain. Follow-up prospective research is an appropriate next step on the path to multicenter clinical trials.