25 August 2010
Lucknow, India
When asked how, neurosurgeon Prof BK Ojha – who headed the team – said, ‘‘this is a rare feat and we have done it for the first time in UP. It is called awake craniotomy (or brain surgery). The patient remains conscious, interacts with the doctors and even moves his limbs during the surgery.’’ His team conducted three such surgeries last week.
The patients were typical in nature because they had developed brain tumour where the tumour overlapped the brain portion.
Removal of a tumour in such a condition could mean loss of brain material as well. ‘‘Awake craniotomy helps in saving this loss,’’ said prof Ojha.
Loss of brain material may affect its motor area which may affect normal life by way of paralysing movement of limbs, affecting speech and so on. During the surgery therefore, the patient is advised to talk with the doctor besides moving his limbs so that any effect on these two activities may be tapped.
The brain awake surgery surprisingly costs less than the normal surgery as the charges of anaesthetists are done away. The recovery time is also considerably reduced as the patient never goes in unconscious state.
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