Emergence of restless legs syndrome during subthalamic stimulation for Parkinson disease

Abstract

The authors systematically studied the emergence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) after subthalamic nucleus (STN) deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson disease (PD). Postoperatively, 11 of 195 patients with STN DBS reported new problematic symptoms of RLS. The mean reduction in antiparkinsonian medication was 74%. The mean RLS score at diagnosis was 15 (±5.9) of a possible 24 points and after symptomatic drug therapy 4.3 (±3.1) points. Reduction of antiparkinsonian medication during STN DBS may unmask symptoms of RLS and complicate therapy of both RLS and PD.