Brain surgery advancements for treating brain tumours

Brain surgery advancements are often coined with the latest technology trends and techniques in brain surgeries. But how you approach your way of thinking about these surgeries are just as important as this could lead to more significant shifts in how patients should be cared for.

Dr Timothy Steel, a Neurosurgeon and Spine Surgeon, is one of the world’s top spinal and neurosurgeon authors. Along with his team of medical practitioners, guarantees to give you knowledge in the best techniques and technologies that science has to offer.

Over the years, various approaches to treating brain tumours have been practised. But some of the most effective treatment options are as follows.

Endoscopic Brain Surgery. Removing brain tumours today does not require open skull surgery. Instead, the cancer cells can be removed through the nose. Although this is minimally invasive and may sound simple, this technique is a very complicated procedure that spanned years in the making.

One of the biggest challenges with endoscopic brain surgery is that the sinus and nose are natural magnets for debris and germs. But some techniques can seal off the brain through the nasal cavity so that spinal fluid leakage and infections are prevented.

Endoscopic techniques only require smaller and fewer incisions. Thus, recovery time is significantly reduced, and scarring is very minimal, unlike that from craniotomy.

Stereotactic Radiosurgery. For the longest time, a traditional craniotomy was the only solution for patients with brain tumours. Acoustic neuroma, pituitary tumour, or meningioma, to name a few, which is then followed by a fractionated radiation. Typically, conventional radiotherapy is administered to and within the surrounding tissue of a tumour. This results in skin changes and hair loss and even potential damages to healthy tissue.

But stereotactic radiosurgery reversed all that. There are two popular types of radiosurgery: Cyber knife and GammaKnife. This method works by delivering highly intensified radiation directly to the tumour, sparing the healthier tissues around the cancer cells. The best part of it all is that the whole treatment is done in a single session: no additional expenses, no more regular trips to the hospital.

Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy. This is another innovative way of surgery that uses heat and works by destroying the tumour via a small incision in the skull. With this procedure, the neurosurgeon inserts a tiny laser and directly targets the cancer cells. Heat is then transferred, destroying the tumour without harming the surrounding healthy tissues. Neurosurgeons like Dr. Timothy Steel use MRI visualization to monitor the patient’s brain. Real-time monitoring is practised to check if the brain’s area gets warm. When it does, doctors can reduce the heat to avoid damage.

This advanced brain tumour surgical procedure takes about four hours, and after a few days of confinement in the hospital, patients can go home. At present, LIIT is administered specifically for tumours that are hard to extract or access, and even for metastatic tumours. Patients with glioblastomas, the more aggressive type of brain tumours, can also take advantage of this technique.

The main goal of utilizing state-of-the-art brain surgeries is to improve and maintain the quality of life of the patients coming from surgery. As more and more minimally invasive surgical choices are introduced, patients are guaranteed a better way of life, without having to worry about costly (and sometimes risky) traditional brain surgeries.