Mini Systematic Review of Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation as a Treatment for Gait and Dysarthria in Parkinson's Disease, A

This review investigated the efficacy of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS) as a treatment for gait and dysarthria in patients with Parkinson's disease. Over two hundred articles were found concerning gait, three of which were used, based on how recently they were published and their relevance to the topic. Concerning dysarthria, five group experimental studies from two databases were evaluated for their internal validity, and their findings were compared. It was discovered that though STN DBS effectively treats gait abnormality in Parkinson's patients, it usually exacerbates rather than improves dysarthria. It was concluded that STN DBS is not an efficacious treatment for speech intelligibility.