Thalamotomy for writer's cramp: Our surgical experiences

Abstract

　Writer's cramp is a writing specific movement disorder with hand muscle cramps when writing. It is classified as a focal dystonia. Treatments for the disease include medication and botulinum injection. However, there are some cases resistant to these non-surgical treatments. As surgical treatments, thalamotomy and deep brain stimulation have been used. In this study, we performed thalamotomy on two cases of writer's cramp. Both patients were completely cured following surgery. We introduce the surgical cases and summarize the treatments for writer's cramp with special emphasis on neurosurgical treatments.