Older patients suffering from Parkinson disease, who undergo deep brain stimulation, seem to have a 90-day complication risk similar to younger patients, indicating that age should not be the main factor for excluding patients as DBS candidates, according to a latest study.

According to the Duke University researchers, the treatment involves placing electrodes in specific parts of the brain, and the new findings should alleviate concerns about using the devices in patients older than 75.

The researchers examined data of more than 1,750 Parkinson's patients, who had the devices implanted between 2000 and 2009. Of those patients, it was found that 7.5 percent had at least one complication within 90 days of the surgery. Complications included pulmonary embolism, wound infections, pneumonia and bleeding.

Nevertheless, the overall danger of complications did not increase with age, the researchers reported on Aug. 25 in the journal JAMA Neurology.

According to study senior author Dr. Nandan Lad, director of the Duke Neuro-Outcomes Lab in Durham, N.C., older patients were likely to develop pneumonia, when compared with younger patients, however, pneumonia is somewhat common among older people who have surgery.

Lad further added that Parkinson's disease is one of the most common movement disorders and it mainly afflicts older people.