Psychosurgery is used for the patients of OCD problems and it is only a sub sect of the neurosurgery or surgery for the brain. It is mostly used for patients who do not respond to any other form of treatment and therapy. In olden days, lobotomy was used which has now been replaced with psychosurgery. Lobotomy has been found to damage the brain and there have been cases of memory loss. Psychosurgery disables a part of the brain with the help of electrodes. The area to be disabled is selected with the help of magnetic resonance imaging. Around one third of the patients have reported improvement.
Novel techniques of gamma knife irradiation and the deep brain stimulation have come up as the modern form of neurosurgery. With so much of advancements in the treatments for various illnesses conventional treatments for the OCD has resulted in only temporary relief that too in 20 % of the patients only.
There are various methods used in the treatment of the neurosurgical treatment of OCD. Four of them have gained importance because of their safety and effectiveness.
• Anterior cingulotomy
• Limbic leucotomy
• Subcaudate tractotomy
• Anterior capsulotomy
In OCD patients all the communication areas of the brain always work and never cease to work BCT and the medication can reduce the activity to a certain extent but can not stop it all together. The connection of the areas has to be cut off to control OCD.
The surgical treatment is helpful for patients with severe OCD and chronic anxiety state. Highly skilled and trained team of doctors only should perform the psychosurgical treatment. After surgery the patient has to undergo the psychiatric rehabilitation program. Numbers of patients have been benefited from these surgical treatments. The side effects or the complications are few. Surgical intervention is an option for severely affected patients which are under utilized.
Posted in: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder