Deep brain stimulation plus best medical therapy versus best medical therapy alone for advanced Parkinson's disease (PD SURG trial): a randomised, open-label trial

Surgical intervention for advanced Parkinson's disease is an option if medical therapy fails to control symptoms adequately. We aimed to assess whether surgery and best medical therapy improved self-reported quality of life more than best medical therapy alone in patients with advanced Parkinson's disease.

The PD SURG trial is an ongoing randomised, open-label trial. At 13 neurosurgical centres in the UK, between November, 2000, and December, 2006, patients with Parkinson's disease that was not adequately controlled by medical therapy were randomly assigned by use of a computerised minimisation procedure to immediate surgery (lesioning or deep brain stimulation at the discretion of the local clinician) and best medical therapy or to best medical therapy alone. Patients were analysed in the treatment group to which they were randomised, irrespective of whether they received their allocated treatment. The primary endpoint was patient self-reported quality of life on the 39-item Parkinson's disease questionnaire (PDQ-39). Changes between baseline and 1 year were compared by use of t tests. This trial is registered with Current Controlled Trials, number ISRCTN34111222.