Minimally-Invasive Neurosurgery

What is Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery?

This is the use of miniaturized equipment to operate on the human central nervous system. The operation involves making small incisions that help one to access the central nervous system. The doctor inserts a long narrow tube that has a camera attached at the end. This helps him/her to view any structures that may require repair or removal.

Types of Procedure Performed

The most common form of minimally invasive neurosurgery performed is the intracranial surgery. In this type of procedure, the surgeon makes a small opening on the skull and inserts the endoscope. This procedure helps to minimize the need for making a large incision in the skull that leaves a huge scar.

Endonasal surgery is also another one that uses this technique. The surgeon will insert an endoscope by drilling a hole into the brain through the nasal openings. As a result, there is visible scarring on the patient. This procedure allows the doctor to operate on different parts of the brain that would have required extensive incisions. For instance, the surgeon is able to operate on the base of the skull and the top of the spine without making visible scars.

Spinal surgery is also performed on a regular basis using this type of procedure. Cameras attached to the end of the endoscope help the surgeon to see what exactly needs to be cut or removed in the spinal column. A number of procedures have benefited from this type of equipment. For instance, lumber discectomy.

Major Benefits of Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery

One obvious benefit is that the operation leaves less scarring. In most cases, the surgeon requires making an incision that is less than one inch. Another benefit of this type of procedure is fewer complications. This is because the doctor can find better workarounds. Thus, he/she does not require cutting through a lot of tissue.

The other major benefit is the reduced risk of death. This type of procedure reduces the risk of death to almost zero. For one, the doctor does not have to cut through any major blood vessels. Bleeding out is a common cause of death in most operations.

How much time is required?

 In most cases, the patient only needs to stay in the hospital for a few hours. The treatment itself rarely takes more than four hours. In some cases, the procedure is over in just fifteen minutes. How

How will patient recover?

 Just like any other type of operation, the patient will need to take a lot of rest. With this type of procedure, the pain levels are usually quite low. Patients should be able to resume their normal routine in just a month. However, this period could be longer depending on how extensive the surgery was.

What should be cared?

 In the case of operations to the spinal column, it would be advisable to avoid engaging in any intensive physical activity. A visit to the doctor after a month may be required. Any problems should be immediately reported for a checkup.