Tumour removed at AMRI Hospital through ‘awake craniotomy’
The world had lost hopes on 18-year-old student Radhika (name changed), a resident of Bhadrak, who was suffering from a brain tumour. But at AMRI Hospitals, Bhubaneswar she found a new life when Dr Amit Jaiswal cured her through a path-breaking procedure called ‘awake craniotomy.’The ‘awake craniotomy’ is a unique operation performed in the same manner as a conventional craniotomy but with the patient staying awake during the procedure.
This is a preferred technique for operations to remove lesions close to or involving functionally important regions of the brain, like area responsible for speech and movement of limbs. This allows surgeons to test regions of the brain before they are incised or removed and patient functions continuously throughout the operation which helps minimise the risks of such operations.
Dr Jaiswal said, “Awake craniotomy is done rarely as all patients cannot be cooperative enough with the doctors and patient’s cooperation along with great coordination between the anesthesia team and surgeons are of utmost importance for this kind of surgeries. The anesthetist should know when the patient needs to be sedated and whe he/she needs to be in senses to communicate with the doctors. After brain surgeries in spite of being cured many female patients become emotionally unstable as their head is shaved off, so I ensure that I make a minimum cut and don’t shave the head completely.”
Radhika suffered from a seizure (epileptic fit) and was put under a neurophysician’s medication. In spite of the medication she got no respite from the seizures. After undergoing several clinical tests, a CT scan revealed a tumor located on the motor area on the left side of the brain. This part of the brain is responsible for movement of the right side of the body. Radhika needed a surgery to remove the tumor.
For this she consulted many doctors, who warned that post-operation there was very high chance that she would become paralytic on her right side and she might lose her speech too.Radhika was explained well before the operation about the whole procedure. Unless she was fully aware of the procedure, she would not have been able to cooperate during the procedure. She was explained that unnecessary movement by her during the operation could be disastrous. The coordination between the operative team and the anesthesia team also had to be impeccable.
The patient needed some kind of sedation during some parts of procedure. The level of sedation was titrated closely and was kept under tight control. The tumor was removed completely in about four hours.“I have got a new life here. The operation was serious and lengthy. But I had faith on my doctor,” Radhika said after the operation.