A medical team from the Dr. Negrín Hospital in Gran Canaria has performed breakthrough Neurosurgery for the first time, by removing a brain tumour from a patient who remained awake during the operation. The man required craniotomy, which is an incision to open a "bone window" in the skull.
“Although surgery with patients awake has been performed in the Neurosurgery department of the Dr. Negrín Hospital for 20 years, it is the first time that this more complex process has been carried out in the centre, which involves performing a craniotomy ”, said the Ministry of Health in a statement yesterday (Thursday).
The team is made up of doctors from the Neurosurgery, Neurophysiology, Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Anesthesiology, and nursing departments of the hospital.
“This type of surgical technique is mainly used for the removal of low-grade gliomas. The most common operation is for epileptic seizures which account for between 50-80% of all procedures, others are for headaches or neurological deficits derived from the location of the lesion or its size,” says the hospital press release.
Frequently, these lesions are in close contact or involve sensitive areas of the brain with important functions from a neurological point of view, so their surgical treatment can cause severe side effects from the point of view of mobility, speech, memory or other aspects relevant to the patient's quality of life.
However, these interventions are carried out in very different phases, says the statement, which details that the brain is first accessed through the extraction of a ‘window’ in the skull (craniotomy).
“This is done under deep sedation and local anaesthesia in the scalp, which allows the patient to be comfortable and pain-free throughout the procedure. Once there, the entire exposed area is mapped with a stimulator to find the important areas that must be preserved”, adds the note.
At this point, the patient is woken up and remains conscious while certain tests and the microsurgical resection of the tumour are performed.
"Once the safe entry route has been found, the tumour is cut out by the neurosurgery team and, with the patient again sedated, the craniotomy is closed and the surgery is completed," the statement explains.
