Frontiers in Neurology (Aug 2019)

Spinal Cord Stimulation for Freezing of Gait: From Bench to Bedside

  • Erich Talamoni Fonoff,
  • Erich Talamoni Fonoff,
  • Andrea C. de Lima-Pardini,
  • Daniel Boari Coelho,
  • Daniel Boari Coelho,
  • Bernardo Assumpção Monaco,
  • Bernardo Assumpção Monaco,
  • Birajara Machado,
  • Carolina Pinto de Souza,
  • Maria Gabriela dos Santos Ghilardi,
  • Maria Gabriela dos Santos Ghilardi,
  • Clement Hamani

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2019.00905
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10

Abstract

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Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) has been used for the treatment of chronic pain for nearly five decades. With a high degree of efficacy and a low incidence of adverse events, it is now considered to be a suitable therapeutic alternative in most guidelines. Experimental studies suggest that SCS may also be used as a therapy for motor and gait dysfunction in parkinsonian states. The most common and disabling gait dysfunction in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) is freezing of gait (FoG). We review the evolution of SCS for gait disorders from bench to bedside and discuss potential mechanisms of action, neural substrates, and clinical outcomes.

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