Awake Craniotomy Essay

What makes a Neurosurgeon? The money? The type of houses they get to live in? The places they get to go? The car they drive? Sure it could be all of those things. But what really makes a Neurosurgeon? Is it ambition? Is it courage? Is it the aspiration to save lives? Is it the reaction they get after a successful operation? Or is it a dream that they have dreamt of becoming a Neurosurgeon? Well, it's all of those things. I’ve dreamt of becoming a Neurosurgeon since I was in 6th grade. Ambition is one of my traits. I’ve always had the aspiration to help others, but to save lives that’s another level I want to achieve. The reaction I get when I do something great internally is something that I cannot explain. That’s a Neurosurgeon. Neurosurgeons are specialized physicians and their specialty is doing surgery on the Nervous System. Let’s look more in depth at becoming a Neurosurgeon.

Before a procedure begins, the nurse anesthetist will discuss with a patient any medications the patient is taking as well as any allergies or illnesses the patient may have. This must be done so anesthesia can be safely administered. Nurse anesthetists then give a patient general anesthesia to put the patient to sleep so they feel no pain during surgery or they may administer a regional

This Anaesthetic case study would describes and discussed the scenario of a patient through the anaesthetic role of their surgical procedure. It will include and discuss the anaesthetic safety procedures equipment and drug interventions used to ensure this particular patients maximum safety and comfort before and during the procedure. The case study will include pre and peri-operative assessment in order to describe the involvement contribution of various specialties in the holistic care of the critical care patient. This assignment will focus only on the anaesthetics side of the procedure but will also highlight the importance of the triad of anaesthesia and discuss the administration, maintenance and reversal of

Did you know that there are about 100,000 miles of blood vessels in the brain (Neurologist 2011)? It is true, which is why neurosurgeons must take special care when operating procedures in this vital part of our body. Neurosurgeons, equally known as brain surgeons, specialize in the activities occurring in the brain and nervous system. Training to become a brain surgeon requires a 6-7 year neurosurgical residency following four years of medical school (citation). Brain surgeons primarily perform complex surgeries on the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. Becoming a brain surgeon result in significant benefits such as they heal problems in one of the most complex parts of the body, the brain, they help all

The sound of the sirens were trapped in her head. Meanwhile, she sat in the emergency room waiting area praying for good news. “How did this happen?” she thought over and over again. After what seemed like forever, the neurosurgeon came out and broke the news to her and her family. Her father’s car accident had broken his spine in three different places, broke a couple of ribs, and left him bruised and scratched all over. The neurosurgeon said it was a miracle that he had no actual brain damage. The neurosurgeon operated on her father’s spine and put him back together with a rod. After the surgery, she couldn’t thank the neurosurgeon enough for all she had done for her father. From that day on, she knew she wanted to be a neurosurgeon so she could help people the way a neurosurgeon helped her father. Neurosurgeons are everyday heroes that have worked very hard to get to where they are, for this

Instead of being asleep like other surgeries previously mentioned, doctors give pain reliever such as anesthesia but the patient will shortly wake up after the surgery process begins. Let's take Ms. Brittany Capone for example. Ms. Capone had a tumor going for a while now and intraoperative brain mapping was the third try for doctors. Ms. Capone's tumor was in an area of her brain that would lead to affected speech. The doctors wanted Capone to be awake during surgery to ask her questions. After the skull is open, the doctors wake Ms. Capone. As the surgeons probe her tumor, the technician begins asking questions. The doctors are looking for any indication of hesitation with Capone's answers. This shows the doctors an indication of being close to her language center. Doctors ask a set of questions and when the surgeon asks "what do you paint with," Ms. Capone hesitates with umm. This then gives the surgeon the time to map the hesitation area and the surgeon moves away from that area realizing their closeness to speech. Ms. Capone left the hospital in four days with the difficulty of reading and speaking for a week due to normal brain swelling but in two months later, Capone was back at

There are an immense number of surgical procedures a neurosurgeon has to perform. Neurosurgeons, examine, diagnose and surgically treat disorders of the nervous system. Some of the neurological diseases neurosurgeons treat is brain tumors, neurovascular diseases, cranial base diseases, and pediatric and developmental disorders. Some of the most extensive procedures a neurosurgeon has to perform are treating patients with intracranial tumors, and awake craniotomies (conscious during brain surgery). Despite all the procedures neurosurgeons have to treat; are the surgeries they are performing effective and maintained? Are the neurosurgical procedures up to date so that patients are invulnerable to life

Did you ever awaken and find yourself unable to move? Perhaps you sensed a presence in your room or a pressure on your chest. This is sleep paralysis. It is a common disorder that affects millions of people. Most believe it occurs as we are on the edge of REM sleep. The disorder has been connected with such hallucinogenic events such as alien abduction or an evil presence. Sleep paralysis is an inability to move or speak, occasionally accompanied by hallucinations, for up to several minutes upon awakening or just before falling asleep.

The patient wakes up after few minutes of the procedure with some dizziness (anesthetic effects) and becomes alert after few hours and can resume normal activities.

When the problem of epileptic seizures occurs within a person, an option with dealing with it is known as Split Brain Surgery. Albeit, it is a very drastic option.

This feature also enables the use of this technique into the postoperative period for analgesia, using lower concentrations of local anaesthetic drugs or in combination with different agents.

Oral sedatives are pills taken by mouth or dissolved under the tongue about an hour before the procedure. Most patients feel sleepiness and heaviness in their limbs after taking the medication. You are conscious throughout the procedure, however. If you do fall asleep, Dr. Das can easily wake you. Oral sedation is a popular option for patients who hate needles.

The efficacy of the decompressive craniectomy is a topic of debate in today’s healthcare setting. While initial studies showed no significance in the procedure’s ability to save lives when compared to conservative treatment, more recent studies that take into account time after onset of injury and age of patient make a strong case for the necessity of the craniectomy. As research continues to develop, the decompressive craniectomy continues to gain more support as the gold standard treatment for a sudden, uncontrolled increase in intracranial pressure.

There is general, regional and local anesthesia. In general anesthesia, one is unconscious and has no awareness or other feelings. There are a number of general anesthetic drugs such as gases or vapors inhaled through a breathing mask or tube and medications introduced through an IV. In regional anesthesia, the anesthesiologist makes and injection near a cluster of nerves to numb the area of the body that requires surgery. The patient may stay awake, or may be given a sedative, either way they do not see or feel the actual surgery taking place. There are several kinds of regional anesthetics. The two most common are spinal anesthesia and epidural anesthesia. In local anesthesia, the anesthetic drug is usually injected into the tissue to numb just the specific location of the body requiring minor surgery. No matter what anesthetic is received the patient will not have feeling during the surgery.

     One of the most complex and fascinating things in the human body is the brain. The body is “capable of almost everything, but it would not be possible, without the brain receiving information, and analyzing the information.”