Department of Neurosurgery

The West Virginia University Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute and WVU Medicine announced the launch of a first-in-the-U.S. clinical trial using deep brain stimulation (DBS) for patients suffering from treatment-resistant opioid use disorder. The team successfully implanted a Medtronic DBS device in the addiction and reward center of the brain. The trial’s first participant is a 33-year-old man, who has struggled with substance use disorder, specifically excessive opioid and benzodiazepine use, for more than a decade with multiple overdoses and relapses.