Are there any restrictions on a persons activity after a DBS system is implanted?
For at least 4 days after surgery, the patient should refrain from flying in commercial aircraft. For one week after surgery, the incisions should be kept dry, so for showering in the first week incisions must be covered with an occlusive. Tight clothing or tightly fitting hats should be avoided in the two weeks after surgery. After the incisions are completely healed (2-3 weeks), the patient may return to all normal activities, including exercise. Normal physical activities will not harm the device. Security devices (such as those in airports or stores) will not harm the device or the patient, although in rare cases they may activate the on-off switch, thus turning off a DBS system that had been on. The loss of benefit to the patient may take minutes or hours to be apparent. When traveling extensively away from home, patients should carry their Medtronic Access Review unit so that they can easily re-activate the DBS system if it is de-activated by a security device.
