Now that you’ve made it past the title we neurosurgeons are proud of, let’s dig into some minimally invasive discussion on some of the most common neurosurgical operations. We understand that it’s an area of medicine that makes people uncomfortable to think about. It’s your head, your brain, the most important part of the body, making the subsequent important parts of the body actually function.
So, yes, we understand that the thought of neurosurgical operations can be discomforting. However, we’re here to make the idea more comfortable by illuminating some of the unknown, breaking down a little unnecessarily complex medical jargon, and shedding light on neurosurgical operations that are pretty common.
Minimally-invasive surgery on the spine
More than 1.5 billion people live with chronic pain, many of whom experience ranging intensities of back pain throughout their lives. Bulging discs are a common culprit here, which can happen anywhere on the spine, though 90% of the time occurring in the lower back. Advances in surgical technology have allowed minimally invasive spine surgery techniques to have patients up and walking the same day or shortly after a procedure, relieved of chronic back pain.
Pituitary gland surgery
Because some 15% of brain tumors are on the pituitary gland, yet these tumors behave differently, pituitary gland surgery is a commonly performed neurosurgical operation. A pituitary tumor can affect hormone secretion and lead to more complicated health problems if not addressed quickly. Located right behind the bridge of your nose, pituitary gland surgery is performed via endonasal transsphenoidal, which is fancy Latin that loosely means up your nose through tiny cameras and tinier instruments. Another minimally invasive procedure thanks to advances in modern medical technology.
The brain and spine support your entire body. As resilient as human beings are, sometimes things need a little help. Again, we know neurosurgical operations aren’t a popular parlor topic, yet they’re important to address because your health and pain-free existence might hinge on an operation that you fear because it’s an unknown. Apprehension should never hinder proper healthcare.
Our job is to make the unknown as clear as possible, to provide you with transparent information and care that’ll have you confident about your health, neurologically and otherwise.