Our doctors will guide you through the entire procedure of brain surgery. You need to inform the doctor about any present medications that you’re taking. Your doctor will advise you on which medicines you should stop taking before the procedure. You’ll also have to inform the doctor about any surgeries, allergies, or if you’re taking alcohol. Before the surgery, your hair will be washed with a special soap to kill any germs or bacteria in the region.

There are several forms of brain surgeries such as:

• Craniotomy - This type of surgery is done to remove brain tumours, an aneurysm, drain out blood or infection from an infection, or remove any abnormal brain tissue.

• Biopsy - This is done to remove some brain tissues or tumours for inspecting them under a microscope.

• Minimally invasive endonasal endoscopic surgery - This helps in removing any tumours or lesions from your nose and sinuses.

• Minimally invasive neuroendoscopy - In this type of surgery, endoscopes are used to remove brain tumours.

• Deep brain stimulation - In this type of surgery, an electrode is placed inside your brain for transmitting electrical signals

Immediately after a brain surgery is done, doctors will be monitoring you to see if everything is working fine or not. You will generally be seated in a raised posture to avoid swelling of your face.

The period of your stay in the hospital can last up to a week. However, how long you have to stay depends on the type of procedure. You may have to take medications for some time after the surgery.

Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF)

Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion (ACDF) is a surgical procedure to remove the degenerative disc in the neck area of the spine. It is also used to treat serious pain from a nerve root that has become inflamed. The treatment is performed by decompressing the spinal cord and nerve roots. ACDF procedure is used when other non-surgical treatments have failed.

The patient is asked to change into the hospital gown. The surgeon makes an incision in the throat area to reach the front of the spine. A graft is inserted by removing the disc. The graft is inserted to fuse the bones present above and below the disc. The doctor recommends this surgery when the physical therapy and medications fail to relieve the pain in the neck or arm. Patients are sent home the same day. It may take 3-4 weeks for the person to recover completely.

Lumbar Laminectomy

Lumbar Laminectomy is a surgical procedure of the back to relive the compression on the spinal cord. The doctor removes the lamina which adds pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots. The lamina is the part of the bone that forms the vertebral arch in the spine. Added pressure on the spinal cord causes mild to severe back pain, difficulty in walking, weakness or numbness in the legs and also causes difficulty controlling the bladder or bowel movements.

The patient will be asked to lie down on the abdomen, in a kneeling position to reduce the weight of the abdomen on the spine. The surgeon will make a straight incision from the desired vertebrae to the lamina which is present down. He then removes the lamina and sets the nerve root back toward the center of your spinal column. He also removes the disc. The surgery takes about 2-3 hours to complete.

Craniotomy

Craniotomy is a surgical removal of a section of the skull in order to access the intracranial compartment. It is commonly performed to remove the brain tumor. It is also performed to remove a blood clot (hematoma), to control hemorrhage, to repair arteriovenous malformations (abnormal connections of blood vessels), to relieve pressure inside the skull, to drain a brain abscess, to perform a biopsy, or to inspect the brain.

The surgeon makes an incision either around the occipital bone at the nape of the neck or a curved incision above the ear and eye. Once the incision is made on the skin, muscles and tissues of the scalp are folded back and the skull is exposed. Small holes are drilled into the skull. The bone flap is then removed to expose the brain tissues for the surgeon to perform the surgery. After the surgery, the bone flap is put back in place. The incision is finally covered with a bandage. It takes about 4-6 hours to complete the surgery.