Brain Surgery

Understanding The Operation

 

Unfortunately, in medicine not every ailment can be treated successfully from the 'outside'. Sometimes to properly treat a condition doctors need to operate on the actual diseased region of the body. Any medical operation is a delicate series of procedures that need to be executed flawlessly. Nowhere on on the body is this especially true as it is in the brain. Brain surgery is an extremely difficult and sensitive type of surgery that requires tremendous skill and years of training. Luckily for us, understanding brain surgery isn't as difficult. Check out the various brain surgery topics below!

Why Surgery?

There are a number of reasons why a person may need to have brain surgery. Whether you are suffering from a brain tumour or whether you've had a stroke, brain surgery could be your only hope of survival. Brain surgery is undertaken on patients who usually have a brain tumour. Whether the tumour is benign or malignant, surgery always needs to be performed in order to safely remove the tumour from the brain. If the tumour is not removed then it can cause further problems for the person and it can become extremely serious.

Brain surgery is undertaken on patients who usually have a brain tumour. Whether the tumour is benign or malignant, surgery always needs to be performed in order to safely remove the tumour from the brain. If the tumour is not removed then it can cause further problems for the person and it can become extremely serious.

What Happens

Before any surgery is given, first a medical exam needs to be given. A physical examination will be given to see exactly what problems you have. It could be that you are suffering from headaches, dizziness or even vomiting. A physician will check you over to see exactly what the damage is and then a CT and an MRI scan will be offered to you. Both scans will be able to diagnose exactly what the problem is and what needs to be done.

A craniotomy is performed to open up the skull. For this the patient obviously needs to be put under general anaesthetic. Basically wherever the damage is to the brain, the scalp is cut open just above it. This allows thee surgeon direct access to the damaged part of the brain and limits the risk of damage being caused to unaffected parts of the brain. A hole is then drilled into the skull which allows the surgeon to remove any clots or ruptured blood vessels. Once the operation has finished, the bone that was removed when a hole was drilled into the skull is replaced and the skin is stitched back up. Before the skin is stitched however, a drain is placed into the brain to get rid of any excess blood.

Some of the complications below can occur and it is always worth being aware of these problems before you go into surgery. Ideally your surgeon will tell you about the complications that may arise as well as a detailed account of what your surgery will involve. Complications include:

• Infection
• Bleeding
• Allergy to Anaesthetic
• Brain Damage
• Seizures

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