Jump to content

Choose locationChoose Location
  • Sign in or Enroll
    • Open I want to choose my medical group or hospital
    • Clear my location
Change Location
Sutter Health
  • Video Visits
  • Find Doctors
  • Find Locations
  • Treatments & Services
  • Locations
  • Sign in or Enroll
    • Video Visits
    • Find Doctors
    • Find Locations
    • Treatments & Services
    • COVID-19 Resources
    • Pay a Bill
    • Symptom Checker
    • Get Care Today
    • Health & Wellness
    • Classes & Events
    • Research & Clinical Trials
    • For Patients
    • About Sutter Health
    • Giving
    • Volunteering
    • Careers
    • News
    • For Medical Professionals
    • Other Business Services
Close Search
  • Home
  • Services
  • Neuroscience Services
  • Interventional Treatment
Content

Interventional Treatment

When you have a movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor, simple tasks can be excruciatingly difficult. Medication and lifestyle changes can often control your symptoms, but when those no longer help your neurologist may suggest interventional treatment.

Neurologists, neurosurgeons and other movement disorder specialists in the Sutter Health network have the expertise, compassion and technology to help preserve your motor control and overall quality of life. Interventional procedures to ease your symptoms often include ablative surgery or deep brain stimulation.

Ablative Surgery

There are a few types of ablative surgical procedures that focus on different areas of the brain, but each surgery uses a heated or cryogenic probe or electrode to destroy problematic tissue. A thalamotomy is an ablative surgery used to destroy the thalamus, which regulates voluntary motor control. During a subthalamotomy, the subthalamus is destroyed in an effort to improve motor function. A pallidotomy procedure creates scar tissue on the globus pallidus, which is often overactive in Parkinson’s disease patients and limits the brain’s ability to control movement.

During these procedures, your surgeon administers a local anesthetic, which allows you to stay awake during the surgery and not feel any pain. Staying awake allows your medical team to interact with you and make sure the correct part of your brain is being targeted. Your surgeon then applies anesthetic medicine to your scalp and drills a small hole in your skull. Note that you don’t need an anesthetic in your brain as the brain has no pain receptors. Once the area of the brain is treated using the ablative probe, your surgeon removes the probe and closes the drill sites.

Deep Brain Stimulation

Deep brain stimulation delivers electrical pulses directly to the brain via a small, battery-powered device that can block abnormal nerve signals that cause tremors. The surgical procedure is typically performed in two phases.

During the first phase, your surgeon places electrodes in your brain via a craniotomy. As with the ablative procedures, you are given a local anesthetic, which allows you to stay awake during the surgery and not feel any pain. Using a medical drill, your doctor makes a small hole in your skull through which an electrode is placed directly into a specific area of your brain. Your surgeon sends electrical pulses to the electrodes to make sure they are in the area of your brain that causes tremors. Once the electrodes are in the proper place, your surgeon closes the drill sites.

You may proceed directly to the second phase of surgery or your pulse-generating device may be implanted up to two weeks later. Your doctor will work with you to discuss the best option.

During the second phase, your surgeon places you under general anesthesia, which allows you to sleep during the surgery. Once you are unconscious, your doctor makes a small incision in the left side of your chest or upper abdomen and places the pulse-generating device, about the size of a stopwatch, in a surgically-created pocket underneath your skin. A connecting wire of electrodes runs underneath your skin from the pulse-generating device to the electrodes in your brain. After implantation, your doctor either immediately programs the device to generate pulses of electricity at intervals specific to your needs, or does so at a future appointment. The pulses can be adjusted by your doctor and you can use a handheld magnet to turn the device on and off.

Connect with a Neurology Specialist

Related Content

  • Neuroscience Services
  • Parkinson's, Tremor and Movement Disorder Care
  • Neurosurgery

Services Near You

Buhler Specialty Pavilion

Buhler Specialty Pavilion

2800 L Street

Sacramento, CA 95816

Sutter Imaging Vacaville

Sutter Imaging Vacaville

770 Mason Street

Vacaville, CA 95688

(707) 432-2500

2 Medical Plaza Care Center

2 Medical Plaza Care Center

2 Medical Plaza Drive

Roseville, CA 95661

View All Related Locations

The Sutter Health Network of Care
Expertise to fit your needs
Primary Care

Check-ups, screenings and sick visits for adults and children.

Specialty Care

Expertise and advanced technologies in all areas of medicine.

Emergency Care

For serious accidents, injuries and conditions that require immediate medical care.

Urgent Care

After-hours, weekend and holiday services.

Walk-In Care

Convenient walk-in care clinics for your non-urgent health needs.

About Sutter

  • About Our Network
  • Annual Report
  • Awards
  • Community Benefit
  • Contact Us
  • News
  • Giving
  • Find Care

  • Birth Centers
  • Care Centers
  • Emergency Rooms
  • Hospitals
  • Imaging
  • Labs
  • Surgery Centers
  • Urgent Care
  • Walk-In Care
  • View All >
  • Featured Services

  • Behavioral Health
  • Cancer Services
  • Family Medicine
  • Home Health and Hospice
  • Orthopedics
  • Pediatrics
  • Pregnancy
  • Primary Care
  • Women's Health
  • View All >
  • Patient Resources

  • Accepted Health Plans
  • Classes and Events
  • Estimate Costs
  • Health and Wellness
  • Medical Records
  • Medicare Advantage
  • My Health Online
  • Pay a Bill
  • Symptom Checker
  • Our Team

  • For Employees
  • Physician Careers
  • Recruiting Events
  • Residencies and Fellowships
  • Sutter Careers
  • Vendors
  • Volunteers
    • ADA Accessibility
    • Contact
    • Privacy
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information

    • LinkedIn Opens new window
    • YouTube Opens new window
    • Facebook Opens new window
    • Twitter Opens new window
    • Glassdoor Opens new window
    • Instagram Opens new window

    Copyright © 2022 Sutter Health. All rights reserved. Sutter Health is a registered trademark of Sutter Health ®, Reg. U.S. Patent & Trademark office.

    Cookie Policy

    We use cookies to give you the best possible user experience. By continuing to use the site, you agree to the use of cookies. Privacy Policy Cookie Preferences

    Privacy Policy Cookie Preferences