Results of diaphragm pacing application in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients. First Turkish experience [Amyotrofik lateral skleroz hastalari{dotless}nda diyafragmatik pil uygulamasi{dotless}ni{dotless}n sonuçlari{dotless}. İlk Türkiye deneyimi]

Objective: to share the application and outcomes of diaphragmatic pace stimulating system (dpss) used in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (als) patients first in turkey. patients and method: eleven als patients were included in dpss procedure. mean age of the patients was estimated as 57.55±8.80 years. four patients who were using mechanical ventilator (mv) had tracheostomy. dpss procedure was done by laparoscopically implanting two electrodes to the diaphragmatic regions which respond electrical stimulation best. results: mean duration of hospital stay was 15.64±7.09 days. peripheral oxygen saturation which was 93.91±2.88% in preoperative period was found to increase to 96.00±1.79% in postoperative period. one patient was completely weaned from mv support. laparoscopic dpss procedure done under general anesthesia in als patients was proven to be able to be done safely and has positive effects on clinical,functional status and quality of life.