People undergoing brain surgery typically find themselves weak and tired after the procedure, so it is wise to choose a hospital that offers outstanding rehabilitation and physical therapy services.
Before brain surgery, MRI and CT scans provide surgeons with valuable data that enables them to find the safest path to reach a tumor or lesion without disrupting surrounding tissue, thus helping reduce complications.
Neurosurgery
Neurosurgery refers to the surgical treatment of disorders affecting any part of the brain, spinal cord and nerves in the body. It’s one branch of neuromedicine – another discipline dedicated to diagnosing and treating neurological conditions through non-invasive means – while each field offers unique advantages over one another.
Your primary healthcare provider or neurologist may refer you to see a neurosurgeon if they feel your condition requires further analysis. An appointment usually involves discussing symptoms and general health before reviewing any images/scans you have and performing physical exams on you.
After discussing your treatment options and goals for health, they will create a personalized treatment plan tailored specifically to you. If surgery is recommended, your neurosurgeon will explain every step in detail as they answer any queries that arise during or after the process. You may wish to bring someone along as support and a second set of ears during this appointment; otherwise it would be advisable to seek a second opinion from another neurosurgeon before making final decisions on your care.
Brain Tumors
Brain tumors are abnormal growths of cells inside the skull and brain; some may be benign while others malignant. Primary tumors originate within brain tissue itself while metastatic cancer cells may spread from elsewhere to invade it (metastasis).
If you exhibit symptoms of brain tumour, a GP or health visitor might refer you to a specialist for evaluation and possible referral to specialists as soon as possible. They might conduct various tests including neurological exam in order to test your senses and reflexes as well as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of your head that can pinpoint its location as well as show its size.
Surgery, radiation and chemotherapy are the three primary methods used to treat brain tumors. Surgery entails cutting into the skull to extract part or all of a tumor while doctors may perform a biopsy procedure on deeper-seated tumors to take for further testing. People who carry certain genetic syndromes such as neurofibromatosis, von Hippel-Lindau disease or Li-Fraumeni syndrome have an increased risk of brain tumor development.
Epilepsy
Surgery may be necessary if seizure medications fail to manage seizures for some individuals, as neurosurgeons utilize video-EEG monitoring and other tests to locate the area of your brain that causes seizures before removing or disabling it. Furthermore, before surgery your neurosurgeon will also conduct memory and language functions tests with neuropsychological evaluation and functional MRI to predict any cognitive deficits postoperatively.
A lobectomy involves extracting the section of your brain where your seizures originate, known as the area known as the lobes: frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital. Lobectomies are one of the most frequently performed procedures for epilepsy surgery while multilobar resection involves taking out parts from two or more lobes but should only be considered when special testing confirms they do not perform vital functions; corpus callosotomy involves cutting through fiber bundles that connect two halves (hemispheres), so this procedure is used when debilitating generalized seizures that originate on one side then spread to both halves (hemispheres).
Deep Brain Stimulation
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) uses electrical impulses to regulate abnormal brain activity in conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, essential tremor and dystonia. Neurosurgeons use results of brain-mapping tests and other procedures to identify an ideal target area on either side of your brain for deep brain stimulation.
After attaching a stereotactic frame with four pins to your head, they drill small holes in your skull for electrode placement. An MRI or CT scan with a special box-shaped localizer shows the location of the target brain area in three dimensions so the neurosurgeon can use this information to guide electrodes into your brain.
Once the electrode has been secured in its proper location, a team of specialists will verify its accuracy by asking you to move your arms or legs, read, count numbers, answer questions, listen for any electrical noise the electrode produces and connect an insulated wire from it through an opening in your skull to a device implanted under your collarbone similar to a heart pacemaker device.
