Deep brain stimulation for OCD
Our recent meta-analysis (https://rdcu.be/cEuw5) shows that deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who do not respond to other treatments. DBS had a large effect on reducing OCD symptoms in all three included randomized controlled trials, in which the clinical effect of stimulation was compared to when stimulation was switched off. Such studies are the golden standard to provide evidence for the efficacy of a treatment. Further support is provided by another meta-analysis that included six additional studies in which also other brain regions were stimulated (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.01.007). This highlights that there is sufficient evidence to consider DBS for patients with OCD that do not benefit from other treatments.