High incidence of carpal tunnel syndrome after deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease

We observed several cases of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) revealed after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) in Parkinson’s disease (PD). 115 consecutive PD patients who underwent STN-DBS between 2010 and 2014 at the Neurological Hospital in Lyon were retrospectively included. CTS was accepted as the diagnosis only if clinical examination and ENMG both confirmed it. Nine patients (7.8 %) developed CTS in the 2 years following surgery, which is far beyond the 2.7/1000 incidence in the general population. The present study shows an overrepresentation of CTS occurrence after STN-DBS in PD.