Recruitment Challenges for Studies of Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment-Resistant Depression.

Introduction: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is currently an investigational treatment for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). There is a need for more DBS trials to strengthen existing evidence of its efficacy for both regulatory and clinical reasons. Recruitment for DBS trials remains challenging due to unproven efficacy in sham-controlled DBS trials, invasive nature of the intervention and stringent eligibility criteria in patient selection.

Long versus short pulse width subcallosal cingulate stimulation for treatment-resistant depression: a randomised, double-blind, crossover trial.

Background: Stimulation adjustment is required to optimise outcomes of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for treatment-resistant depression, but controlled data for ideal stimulation parameters are poor or insufficient. We aimed to establish the efficacy and safety of short pulse width (SPW) and long pulse width (LPW) subcallosal cingulate DBS in depression.

Methods: We did a double-blind, randomised, crossover trial in an academic hospital in Calgary, AB, Canada.