Common diseases treated by neurosurgery clinics are
Neurosurgeons also specialize in skull base surgery, minimally invasive neurosurgery and neuroendoscopy, functional neurosurgery and stereotaxy, neurotraumatology and intensive care medicine as well as paediatric neurosurgery with the specific characteristics and malformations of the child's skull and central nervous system (e.g. hydrocephalus, skull deformities, meningoceles).
State-of-the-art examination methods (e.g. computer tomography, magnetic resonanceimaging (MRI), angiography) are often used for the precise planning and execution of a neurosurgical procedure.
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Neurosurgery deals with conditions of the central and peripheral nervous system that can be treated surgically @ romaset /AdobeStock
Bar stitch
Neurosurgical procedure in which thecorpus callosum in the brain is punctured to allow the cerebrospinalfluid to drain away. This reduces the intracranial pressure.
Cerebral shunt (cerebrospinal fluid shunt)
Medical device used in neurosurgery (usually a tube) through which excess cerebrospinal fluid is drained from the cerebral ventricles within the body. This is intended to reduce the intracranial pressure to a normal level.
In most cases, a thin plastic tube is passed from the head under the skin into another body cavity (e.g. the abdominal cavity or the atrium of the heart), into which the accumulated cerebral fluid can drain. The cerebral shunt is used in cases of hydrocephalus (abnormal expansion of the fluid-filled spaces in the brain), among others.
Callosotomy
A neurosurgical procedure rarely used today as a last resort in the treatment of epilepsy, in which the corpus callosum, which connects the two hemispheres of the brain, is severed neurosurgically.
The condition of the brain after severing is referred to as a split brain. This procedure can reduce the frequency of tonic, atonic and secondary generalized tonic-clonic seizures.
Denervation (de-nervation, enervation)
Neurosurgical procedure in which nerve pathways between an organ and the brain or between an area of the cerebrum and its nerve connections are completely or partially interrupted.
Epilepsy surgery
An excellently tested and recognized neurosurgical procedure for the treatment of focal epilepsy, which is carried out in specialist centers.
The area of the brain responsible for the epileptic seizure is removed. Using electrocorticography, the triggering nerve tissue can be narrowed down very precisely. By temporarily implanting electrodes under the skull or in the brain, precise information can be obtained about the origin of the seizure and the possible consequences of the operation on memory performance.
Epilepsy is the most common neurological disease @ Tunatura /AdobeStock
External ventricular drainage
In neurosurgery, external ventricular drainage is the drainage ofcerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the ventricular system (cavity system) of the brain.
Guglielmi detachable coil (DGC, coiling, endovascular aneurysm occlusion)
In neurosurgery, a stretched, soft and very fine platinum coil, usually used to close aneurysms of the cerebral arteries, which is advanced within a vessel to the aneurysm using a microcatheter and placed inside the aneurysm.
Here it resumes its spiral shape and forms a coil.
Hemispherectomy
Rarely performed neurosurgical procedure in which one half of the brain is removed. It is used to treat the most severe cases of epilepsy.
Capsulotomy
Very rarely performed neurosurgical procedure in which fiber tracts of the capsula interna (a specific area of the cerebrum) are severed stereotactically (the patient's head is firmly fixed in a frame). The procedure is used for psychiatric disorders that are resistant to treatment (e.g. severe obsessive-compulsive disorder or depressive disorders).
Craniectomy
Neurosurgical procedure in which parts of the top of the skull are removed. The neurosurgical operation creates space for the additional volume in the event of increased intracranial pressure. The removed bone flap can be reinserted later.
Craniotomy
Standard neurosurgical procedure in which the skull bone is opened.
Laminectomy
Neurosurgical procedure on the spine in which the vertebral arch with the spinous process of one or more vertebrae is removed. On the one hand, this can create space for spinal cord or intervertebral disc surgery, and on the other, it relieves pressure on the spinal cord if it is too high (e.g. due to a tumor in the spinal canal).
Microvascular decompression (Jannetta operation)
Neurosurgical procedure in which pathological connections between arteries and cranial nerves in the posterior cranial fossa are removed. To do this, the skull is first opened (trephination), the pathological vascular-nerve connections are identified and removed by inserting a cushion of muscle tissue or small Teflon sponges between them.
Minimally invasive endoscopic neurosurgery
Diagnostic procedure in neurosurgery in which the ventricles (inner spaces of the brain) or pathological cavities in the brain (e.g. abscess) are examined using an encephaloscope or ventriculoscope.
Neurolysis
A method of neurosurgery in which the constriction of a nerve (often caused by scarred adhesions) and thus the pressure exerted on the nerve is removed by microsurgery.
Neuronavigation
Computer-assisted surgical procedure used in neurosurgery to plan operations in the area of the brain and enable intraoperative spatial orientation. Neuronavigation is used to precisely localize and display the surgical area currently being treated and the surgical device on three-dimensional image data of the patient obtained using computer tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) and ultrasound.
Neurotomy (nerve incision)
In neurosurgery, neurotomy refers to the complete or partial severing of a nerve (denervation) without loss of substance.
Nucleotomy
In neurosurgery, nucleotomy refers to the operation for a herniated disc in which protruding parts of the disc are removed from the spinal cord or spinal nerve canal.
The prolapsed parts of the disc press on the nerves of the spinal cord, which can lead to muscle paralysis and sensory disorders of the skin, as well as urinary and fecal incontinence.
Ommaya reservoir (Rickham reservoir)
An Ommaya reservoir is a catheter system that is implanted in the ventricular system of the brain in neurosurgery and is often used for local chemotherapy of brain tumors.
Psychosurgery
Field of neurosurgery that includes surgical interventions on the brain to treat severe mental disorders (e.g. schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder) as well as the neurosurgical treatment of severe courses of other diseases (e.g. Parkinson's syndrome, Tourette's syndrome, epilepsy).
Stereotactic brain surgery
Minimally invasive neurosurgical procedure in which the patient's head and medical instruments are fixed in a firmly screwed frame.
Stereotactic brain surgery is often combined with real-time imaging using computer tomography, magnetic resonance imaging and computer-assisted instrument guidance. This enables precise, largely injury-free movement within the brain.
This neurosurgical procedure is used for
- the diagnosis of deep-seated foci of disease,
- in the removal of cell samples,
- for the removal of brain tumors (oncological stereotaxy) and vascular malformations in the brain and
- for the treatment of movement disorders (e.g. tremor, Tourette's syndrome, Parkinson's disease) and some chronic forms of pain (functional stereotaxy).
Thalamotomy
A stereotactic brain operation performed as a last resort in neurosurgery, in which certain areas of the thalamus are switched off by coagulation.
This neurosurgical procedure is used for severe, otherwise untreatable pain (in the arms, neck or face), Parkinson's syndrome or other pain arising in the thalamus.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS, "brain pacemaker")
Neurosurgical procedure used to correct malfunctions caused by disease. In this neurosurgical procedure in the brain, thin electrodes are implanted in the brain, which are connected to a pulse generator (located on the chest or in the upper abdomen) via cables laid under the skin.
Electrical impulses are sent to the target region in the brain via the pulse generator and thus via the electrodes, whereby this region can either be stimulated or deactivated, depending on the frequency of the impulse.
Deep brain stimulation is used, for example, to treat Parkinson's disease @ Teeradej /AdobeStock
Deep hypothermia (hypothermic cardiac arrest)
A procedure occasionally used in neurosurgery for operations on the brain or to protect the brain during procedures on the aorta, in which hypothermia is deliberately induced in the human body.
As a result, the blood flow to the brain can be reduced or completely stopped for a short time during brain surgery.
Trephination
Trephination is a surgical procedure in which bony or otherwise enclosed spaces are opened mechanically. In neurosurgery, craniotomy (surgical opening of the skull) is a form of trepanation.
The skull can be opened either by drilling a hole or by sawing out a piece of bone.
If the piece of bone removed from the skull is used again to close the surgical wound, this is referred to as osteoplastic trephination. In osteoclastic trepanation, the surgical wound is closed in another way (e.g. with metal or plastic implants).
Awake craniotomy
Neurosurgical procedure in which the patient is awakened for a short time during an operation (after the skull has been opened). This neurosurgical procedure is used in tumor surgery and epilepsy surgery, for example, in order to determine how much brain tissue can be removed without causing symptoms.
Cingulotomy
A radical operation of last resort on the human brain in which the cingulate gyrus is permanently severed, irreversibly altering the patient's psyche. This neurosurgical procedure is used to treat the most severe mental illnesses (e.g. OCD syndrome).
