Safety and Risk of Microelectrode Recording in Surgery for Movement Disorders

There is an ongoing controversy about whether it is necessary to use microelectrode recording (MER) techniques in stereotactic surgery for Parkinson’s disease and other movement disorders. This paper consists of a critical review of the published literature in order to analyze the value of MER in providing safe, efficient and accurate functional stereotactic surgery. Review of the literature revealed that MER techniques do not necessarily improve targeting accuracy or clinical results, compared to techniques using impedance monitoring and macrostimulation. In terms of safety for the patients, however, MER techniques are relatively safe, but non-Mer techniques, based on macrostimulation-guided surgery, are at least five times safer.