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. 2017 Oct 10:8:249.
doi: 10.4103/sni.sni_172_17. eCollection 2017.

Infections in deep brain stimulation: Shaving versus not shaving

Felix S Gubler  1 , Linda Ackermans  1 , Pieter L Kubben  1 , Aysun Damci  1 , Mark L Kuijf  2 , Mayke Oosterloo  2 , R Jeroen Vermeulen  2 , Sarah Hescham  3 , Ersoy Kocabicak  3   4 , Erkan Kurt  5 , Yasin Temel  1   5
Affiliations

Infections in deep brain stimulation: Shaving versus not shaving

Felix S Gubler et al. Surg Neurol Int. .

Abstract

Background: To report our experience of infections in deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgeries comparing shaving versus no shaving of cranial hair. Nonshaving is strongly preferred by patients due to aesthetic and psychological factors.

Methods: This study is a prospective follow-up of the infection rate in 43 nonshaven DBS cases between April 2014 and December 2015 compared to our former infection rate with shaving in our center. Minimum follow-up was 6 months. All patients, except 7 epilepsy patients, received implantation of the electrodes together with the extension cables and internal pulse generator in one session.

Results: In 43 nonshaven patients, a total of 81 electrodes were implanted or revised with a mean follow-up of 16 months. One patient (2.32%) developed an infection of the implanted DBS-hardware and was treated with antibiotics.

Conclusion: In our experience nonshaving of cranial hair in DBS surgery does not lead to more infections when compared to shaving. We have changed our protocol to nonshaving based on these findings.

Keywords: Complication; deep brain stimulation; infection; shaving.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Our DBS surgical preparation including the sterile transparent drape (Molnlycke Healthcare, Goteborg, Sweden) (printed with permission of the patient)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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