Deep Brain Stimulation

When you have deep brain stimulation (DBS), you get the leading-edge care to treat your movement disorder and get back to doing the things you love. Our neurosurgeons are experts in their field and can give you precise treatment to achieve the best results. They will also support you in keeping a good quality of life for many years ahead.

Treatment Overview

Deep brain stimulation is a surgical procedure that involves implanting wires, or electrodes, in the brain and using safe and mild electrical impulses to stimulate them. This stimulation eases irregular body movements that can interfere with how a patient moves naturally and what they do in everyday life. Your medical team will observe and optimize the current over time to make sure it continues to provide effective results.

Our neurosurgeons know that for many people, DBS can be the difference between declining and regaining control of their lives. DBS allows many patients to resume some of the most routine aspects of daily life, such as feeding themselves, and to enjoy hobbies and social activities again. Some patients have even been able to reduce their medications enough to ease side effects like nausea. Our specialists have seen again and again how these results bring joy and relief to their patients.

Dystonia
Epilepsy
Essential Tremor
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Parkinson's Disease
Tourette Syndrome

Why Choose Us for Your Deep Brain Stimulation Treatment?

As the only hospital in the Inland Northwest that performs DBS, we are a regional destination for patients seeking relief from the symptoms of movement disorders such as shaking, slowed movement and stiffness. Here’s why more than 200 patients choose us for their DBS procedure each year:

Providence Inland Neurosurgery & Spine Center offers effective options to patients seeking the most advanced therapies for their movement disorder. We’ve been offering DBS since the treatment was approved in the late 1990s. Because we pioneered its use in the region, we perform a high volume of DBS surgeries. This means a more experienced, precise surgery and a better outcome for you. Our leadership in innovation helps us provide better neurological care – and a better life – for you and your loved ones.

Your neurosurgeon gets to know you personally to create a DBS care plan that addresses your specific needs and lifestyle– and your care doesn’t end after your surgery. You continue to have a relationship with your neurosurgeon and receive expert, compassionate care. Because your brain and condition are unique, your team optimizes the settings of your electrodes over time to find the most effective stimulation parameters. This patient-centered approach is why patients have trusted Sacred Heart Medical Center with their deep brain stimulation for nearly 30 years.

Our neurosurgeons who specialize in DBS perform your surgery, bringing trusted experience to your treatment. They work closely with a care team of specialists that may include DBS programmers, neurologists, neuropsychologists, physiatrists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, rehabilitation specialists, electrophysiologists and nurse practitioners. Our team performs DBS surgical procedures for patients who are asleep or awake, depending on which option is more appropriate for each individual patient.

Learn How Our Providers Are Impacting Patients

“Deep brain stimulation can have enormous impact on some patients’ function and quality of life. For instance, a violinist can have essential tremor or dystonia where they can’t hold their neck straight, and they will look normal after the surgery and be able to go back to playing in the symphony.”

Jonathan D. Carlson, MD, PhD

Providence Neurosurgery and Spine

“Deep brain stimulation can have enormous impact on some patients’ function and quality of life. For instance, a violinist can have essential tremor or dystonia where they can’t hold their neck straight, and they will look normal after the surgery and be able to go back to playing in the symphony.”