Antibiotic impregnated catheter coverage of deep brain stimulation leads facilitates lead preservation after hardware infection

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become a reliable and effective treatment for many disorders. However, the risk of long-term hardware-related complications is notable, and most concerning is hardware-related infections. Given the risk of hardware removal in the setting of infection, we retrospectively examined the implementation of a novel technique using antibiotic covered catheter protection of DBS leads after infection. The effect on hardware salvage and ease of reimplantation of the DBS extension and implantable pulse generator (IPG) was examined. A total of nine (9%) out of 100 DBS patients met the inclusion criteria with 11 DBS hardware-related infections at either the frontal, parietal, or IPG sites, from June 2003 to November 2010, at our institution. Subsequent to the initial patient in the series, a total of eight patients had placement of a short segment (approx. 4 cm long) of antibiotic impregnated catheter (Bactiseal, Codman, Johnson & Johnson, Raynham, MA, USA) over the distal end of the DBS leads at the parietal incision. Seven of these eight patients presented with pus and deep tissue infections around the hardware at either the frontal, parietal, or chest incisions. In seven of these eight patients (87.5%) we were able to protect and salvage their DBS leads without need for removal. In conclusion, this novel technique provides a simple reimplantation operation, with a decreased risk of DBS lead damage. It may improve the preservation of DBS leads when hardware infection occurs, is inexpensive, and confers no additional risks to patients.