Neurosurgery is surgery performed on the brain or spinal cord. It's carried out by a highly specialised professional called a neurosurgeron.
Every hospital or surgeon may have slightly different practices, so what you experience may differ slightly from what's described on this page and fact sheet.
Why might I need neurosurgery?
- Removing all or part of the tumour (craniotomy)
- Diagnosis of tumour type (biopsy)
- Putting chemotherapy drugs directly into the brain
- Reducing associated conditions, such as a build-up of the cerebrospinal fluid, by putting in a shunt.
Neurosurgery to remove all or part of the tumour
Whenever possible, your neurosurgeon will try to remove all of your tumour, or as much as is safe to. (Not all tumours can be operated on, as they may be too close to a sensitive area of the brain, e.g. that controls breathing or sight.)
Neurosurgery can have several purposes:
It is important to know that neurosurgery is not always possible. If your brain tumour is too close to an important part of the brain, surgery may be too risky. In this case, another treatment option will be suggested.
Neurosurgery is performed by a highly specialised doctor, known as a neurosurgeon.
To remove your tumour, your neurosurgeon needs to make a large-ish hole in your skull, so they can see into your brain. This operation is called a
craniotomy. It is the most common type of surgery for brain tumours.
A
craniotomy is usually performed when you are asleep under general
anaesthetic, but it can be performed when you are awake.
An awake
craniotomy may be performed if the tumour is close to areas of the brain that control important functions. Waking you part way through the operation allows the neurosurgeon to check where these functions are in your brain by asking you to perform certain tasks during the operation, such as reading out loud. This enables them to avoid damage to these areas.
This can sound rather scary, but if it is thought to be the best option for you, your healthcare team will discuss it with you, explaining what is done to prevent you feeling any pain and to help you mentally prepare for it.
Before your surgery, your neurosurgeon will discuss with you what to expect. Ask as many questions as you would like - there is no such thing as a 'silly' question.
You may like to ask about
biobanking a frozen sample of your tumour, so you can be a candidate for clinical trials in the future and have any relevant genetic (
biomarker) tests for your tumour. These tests, for some tumours only, can predict how well you might respond to certain treatments
What happens during a craniotomy?
- In some hospitals, patients are first given a drink containing a substance called 5-ALA.
- Sometimes known as the 'pink drink', even though it is not pink, this causes the tumour cells in the brain to glow pink under violet light. This helps the surgeon to tell the tumour cells, at the edge of the tumour, apart from the normal cells and so remove more of the tumour.
- You will then be given a general anaesthetic to fall asleep
- A small area of your head may be shaved and you may be given an local anaesthetic to part of your scalp
- An incision (cut) is made in your scalp and a small part of your skull ('bone flap') will be removed
- If you are having an awake craniotomy, you will be woken at this point to allow your neurosurgeon to map where the functions of the brain are located in your brain
- As much of the tumour as is safely possible, will be removed - this can take some time
- In an awake craniotomy you may be able to feel pulling, but you should not feel pain as the brain itself cannot feel pain
- If all the tumour is removed, this is known as total resection
- If part of the tumour is removed, this is known as debulking or partial resection
- A small sample of the tumour (called a biopsy) will be sent to the lab for analysis and diagnosis
- The bone flap will be replaced and the wound closed using stitches or metal clips - in an awake craniotomy, you may be put back to sleep before this happens
- You are likely to be given steroids to help with any swelling.
The length of time a
craniotomy takes varies according to the part of the brain being operated on. It may take around 4-6 hours, but can be longer.
Neurosurgery to diagnose brain tumour type
To gain an accurate diagnosis of your brain tumour, a small sample of tumour tissue needs to be taken. This is done by an operation known as a '
biopsy'.
If you are having a
craniotomy, a
biopsy will be taken at the same time, but sometimes if a
craniotomy is not possible, a smaller operation may be performed to get a sample of the tumour for diagnosis.
The tumour sample will be sent to the laboratory to be analysed and diagnosed by a neuropathologist.
A
biopsy generally takes about 2-3 hours.
What happens during a biopsy?
- First you will have an MRI scan or CT scan to show exactly where the tumour is
- You will then be given a general anaesthetic to fall asleep
- A very small 'burr hole' will be drilled into your skull by the neurosurgeon
- A needle is passed through the hole to take a small sample of the tumour, which is sent to the lab for analysis and diagnosis
- The hole is closed using staples or stitches
- You may be given steroids to help with any swelling.
Neurosurgery to insert chemotherapy drugs
Sometimes during a
craniotomy, you may have chemotherapy drugs put directly into the brain to get rid of any remaining tumour cells. This can be done via:
Wafer implants (Gliadel wafers)
Wafers, coated with the chemotherapy drug carmustine, are placed into the space where the tumour was. They gradually dissolve over 2-3 weeks, releasing the chemotherapy.
(These are only licensed for people with high grade gliomas and only if the surgeon can remove at least 90% of the tumour and the tumour has not affected the fluid-filled spaces in the brain, called the ventricles.)
Ommaya reservoir
A dome-shaped device, put in during surgery, which sits underneath the scalp and delivers chemotherapy directly into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to flow round the brain.
Neurosurgery to reduce brain tumour symptoms
Headaches are a common symptom of brain tumours caused by a build-up of
cerebrospinal fluid (
CSF). This can happen if the tumour is blocking the flow of
CSF.
To reduce this pressure, neurosurgeons can insert a tube, called a '
shunt', through your skull and into your brain to drain some of the excess fluid away. The fluid is drained into other parts of the body that can easily absorb it. This is not your stomach, so it will not affect your eating. The
shunt may have to stay in place for some time.
After neurosurgery
Immediate effects
When you wake up after surgery, you will have a number of tubes coming in and out of your body to help:
- give you water, nutrients and medicine
You may have swelling and bruising on your face, and you may have a dressing on your wound, but not necessarily. You may also feel some temporary worsening of the symptoms you had before the surgery. This is usually due to swelling of the brain following the surgery. You may be given
steroids to help with this.
Other temporary, post-operative effects include:
- momentary phases of feeling dizzy / confused
- new symptoms, e.g. personality changes, poor balance / co-ordination, speech problems and epileptic seizures (fits).
Neurosurgery is a major operation - you will need to rest for a number of days.