Brain Surgery

Brain surgery is the branch of medicine that deals with operating on the brain. Brain surgery is often referred to as neurosurgery, although the latter term is broader and covers all surgical procedures that aim to remedy a problem with the nervous system. There are many medical conditions that may require brain surgery. Some of the most common include head injuries, hemorrhages, aneurysms and tumors.

Brain surgery is a very serious procedure. After all, the brain is the most complex and important organ in the human body. Unless all other possible treatment methods are exhausted, a doctor will not recommend brain surgery.

5 Things You Need to Know

  1. Brain surgery is one of the oldest medical practices on earth. Archaeologists have found many small holes in the skulls of cavemen, which they have determined were put there intentionally. What were prehistoric humans doing inside each other’s heads? The best guess is that they thought the small holes would release evil spirits. Our level of medical sophistication has come a long way since then.
  2. Over the past century, medical advances have reduced the risk of complications from brain surgery from almost 90 percent to under 2 percent.
  3. New technologies like CAT scans and MRIs allow surgeons to see exactly what is happening in your brain and to determine what they need to do to fix the problem before they even make an incision. “Exploratory” brain surgery is now largely a thing of the past.
  4. Patients who have brain surgery usually undergo a craniotomy. A craniotomy is a procedure that involves removing part of the skull (a “bone flap”) in order to access the brain.
  5. Following brain surgery, patients stay in the hospital (often in the intensive care unit) under the care of a neurologist until they are ready to return home. In the past, recovering enough to leave the hospital could take weeks or months. With today’s advances, some patients return home only days after their surgery.

3 Questions You Need to Ask Your Doctor

  1. What are the risks involved with brain surgery?
  2. What do I need to do in order to prepare myself for surgery?
  3. How long will the recovery process take?

Also Known As: Neurosurgery, craniotomy

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