Complicated operation at the Mater Olbia hospital: in the Neurosurgery ward a brain tumor was removed from a woman while she was awake and collaborating.
The medical team led by the head physician Giovanni Sabatino, with Edoardo Mazzucchi, Fabrizio Pignotti and Giuliano Di Monaco at his side, used the technique of brain surgery with an awake patient, the so-called "awake surgery". A practice in use for many years that allows the monitoring of brain functions, such as language, which would not be evaluable with the patient under general anesthesia. In this case, following a seizure, a left frontal brain injury was diagnosed. The bilingual patient performed neuropsychological tests both in her native language and in Italian.
The operation was performed with the aid of advanced technological instruments: intraoperative CT scan associated with neuronavigation and image reconstruction systems, intraoperative ultrasound, ultrasound aspirator and neurophysiological monitoring. In consideration of the proximity of the tumor to brain areas related to language, it was necessary to use a neuropsychological monitoring, carried out by the neurologist in the operating room, only possible with the patient awake and able to actively collaborate.
(Unioneonline / D)