RESEARCH ARTICLE
Practical Guidance on How to Handle Levodopa/Carbidopa Intestinal Gel Therapy of Advanced PD in a Movement Disorder Clinic
Stephen Wørlich Pedersen*, Jesper Clausen, Mie Manon Gregerslund
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 6
First Page: 37
Last Page: 50
Publisher ID: TONEUJ-6-37
DOI: 10.2174/1874205X01206010037
Article History:
Received Date: 11/1/2012Revision Received Date: 20/3/2012
Acceptance Date: 21/3/2012
Electronic publication date: 18/5/2012
Collection year: 2012
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Continuous dopaminergic delivery is recognized for the capacity to ameliorate symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD). In advanced PD the short comings of orally administered Levodopa/Carbidopa include fluctuations resulting in unstable effect and dyskinesia. Levodopa/Carbidopa intestinal gel, LCIG, (Duodopa®, Abbott Laboratories) is delivered continuously through a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy with the inner tube placed in the duodenum by means of a device (CADD legacy Duodopa pump (CE 0473)). The therapy implies continuous dopaminergic delivery directly to the duodenum and is therefore unaffected by gastric emptying and represents a major adjuvant in the treatment of advanced PD with significant improvement in motor and non-motor symptoms. The aim of this paper is to suggest the prerequisites for a LCIG clinic and propose a feasible set-up and lean organization of a movement disorder clinic. Secondly, the paper proposes practical handling of patients in LCIG treatment for advanced PD based on experience and initiation of LCIG treatment and follow-up in forty patients.
