A new and important operation for the Ternopil region was performed by neurosurgeons in the neurosurgical department of the Ternopil Regional Clinical Psychoneurological Hospital.
A 19-year-old patient had an epileptic seizure for the first time in his life. The boy was an athlete, a good student, active, with supportive parents, and was very scared. The illness prompted a quick examination, and an MRI revealed a brain tumor . The patient was sent to a neurosurgeon .
“The tumor was small in size, but it was located in a very difficult place,” says Alexei Leontiev, head of the neurosurgical department. “Its complexity was that it was surrounded by the centers of the cerebral cortex , which were responsible for sensitivity and complex forms of analysis of sensory information. According to modern standards of care, we had to remove this tumor completely, but in such a way as to preserve the patient’s motor, sensory and other higher nervous functions.” The tumor was located in the left hemisphere of the brain, which is dominant in a typical right-handed person. It was decided to perform the operation in consciousness. “During such an operation,” says Alexei Leontiev, “the patient is put under anesthesia for the duration of access to the cerebral cortex, and then wakes up and follows instructions that allow for constant monitoring of all his important nervous functions until the entire tumor is removed. Then the patient is put under anesthesia again and the wound is closed.” Such interventions have not been performed in the Ternopil region before. Neurosurgeons had such experience in their previous work, but great responsibility for such interventions rests with the anesthesiologist.
“During the preparation for the operation, we consulted with experienced colleagues, processed data from scientific literature and used information from the Internet,” says Andriy Musienko, head of the intensive care unit. “The technical base is fully available in our operating room, our Kherson colleagues helped with some points, everything else we did ourselves.”
On 11.01.24, after careful preparation, an operation to remove a brain tumor was performed, during which our patient actively communicated with doctors, talked about his feelings, followed instructions, and recognized images in pictures. During this time, a tumor was removed from a functionally important area of the brain without any deficit for the patient.
A thorough examination in the postoperative period did not reveal any neurological dysfunction. On the evening of the day of the operation, the patient began to stand up, walk actively, and after 3 days he was discharged home. A control tomogram showed that the tumor was completely removed and there were no complications.
I can’t even imagine the joy of his parents, who experienced the hardest thing in their lives – brain surgery for their son – but with a good positive effect. They found the strength to trust OUR doctors, they knew that everything would be fine and they were in safe hands. Isn’t this the most important thing when having brain surgery? And the most important thing is that it is now in Ternopil, in a psychoneurological hospital and is available to every resident. Each of you – Us can take advantage of this – to be operated on safely and effectively by a neurosurgeon – this is what is now available and available.
Such types of operations “in consciousness” significantly reduce the risks of interventions on the brain, and are already available to patients in the Ternopil region. Our patients always have at their disposal a state-of-the-art operating room with all the necessary equipment, including intraoperative neuromonitoring, a comfortable department, friendly staff and highly professional doctors, and safe treatment methods.
The video report can be viewed here.
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