Neurosurgery

What is neurosurgery?

Neurosurgery is a highly specialized branch of surgery and medical discipline that deals with any diseases, injuries, or breakdown of functions in the brain, spinal cord, spinal column, the central and peripheral nerves, and cerebrovascular systems.

Apart from surgeries, neurosurgeons also facilitate non-operative management of neurological disorders and diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and trigeminal neuralgia, working closely with neurologists to manage care. This includes evaluation, diagnosis, treatment, and neurocritical care of patients with different neurological conditions. Neurosurgeons diagnose neurological conditions using tools such as cranial taxonomy scans and Magnetic Resonance Imaging or MRIs.

Neurosurgery is one of the more recently developed branches of medicine and is considered to be among the most advanced in its use of cutting-edge technologies in the procedures they perform. Neurosurgery deals with all age groups and in treating different conditions such as congenital neurological disorders, neuroblastoma, neurodegenerative diseases, neurovascular disorders, and more.

Given its wide scope of applicability, neurosurgery can also be divided into sub-specialities. These include:

While fundamentally a surgical discipline, neurosurgeons also manage cases with physical, pharmacologic, and minimally invasive and interventional therapies.

What are the common signs and symptoms of neurological disorders?

Neurological disorders have a wide spectrum of applicability and severity. Therefore, the symptoms cannot be generalized, with each specific neurological condition having a unique manifestation of symptoms.

There are, however, some physical symptoms that several of the neurological conditions have in common. These include:

Apart from the physical manifestation of symptoms, the onset or progression of neurological conditions can also cause sudden mood swings and episodes of depression and delusions.

What are the different types of neurological disorders?

Neurological disorders can be broadly categorized as the following:

There are over 600 different types of neurological disorders and injuries that need evaluation and treatment by a neurosurgeon:

How can you obtain the right diagnosis?

Given the wide spectrum of diseases, disorders, and injuries that can be classified under “neurosurgery”, getting the right treatment rests on the strength of the evaluation and diagnosis. There are different tests and assessments that neurosurgeons use to evaluate the condition of the patient. These include:

This type of examination is done to assess the sensory and motor skills of the patient, along with tests to check for balance, movement, cognition, speech, coordination, mental status, sensations, etc. Testing may also include evaluation of the specific nerves and an overall examination of the autonomic nervous system. Along with the patient’s medical history, the results of these examinations are used to arrive at a list of possible conditions (differential diagnoses). This list helps specialists further narrow down the type of tests and procedures that need to be done to arrive at an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.

Common screening tests include X-rays, fluoroscopy, MRIs and CT scans. Routine blood and urine samples are also used in chemical and metabolic testing to rule out metabolic anomalies and the presence of toxins and infections.

Specialized procedures, such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and stereotactic radiosurgery, are additional tests used to identify brain tumors, infections, brain changes following an injury, degeneration, etc. Some tests such as the intraoperative MRI and the functional MRI are also used as part of neurosurgical procedures.

Based on the outcome of these examinations and tests, neurosurgeons working in tandem with other specialties may ask for a case or condition-specific test to be completed. These could include tests such as biopsies, angiograms, cerebrospinal fluid analysis (using a lumbar puncture or spinal tap procedure), electroencephalography, electromyography, electronystagmography, polysomnogram, thermography, evoked potentials, and myelography. Many of these tests are performed as outpatient procedures at Advanced Pain Care.

What are the different types of neurological and neurosurgical treatments?

Neurosurgeons perform surgeries related to the brain, spinal cord, spinal column, central and peripheral nerves, and cerebrovascular systems in different parts of the body. They also prescribe medicines and refer patients to non-operative treatments such as therapy and rehabilitation.

Neurosurgeons are highly skilled and can perform a range of surgeries from minimally invasive procedures (like pain management implantations) to complicated and conventional surgeries. Trained in the latest cutting-edge technologies, neurosurgeons at Advanced Pain Care use computer-guided intra-operative technologies, 3D and fluoroscopy imaging, laser assistance, endoscopes, and other types of advanced instrumentation to achieve precision in all surgeries performed at our owned and operated surgery centers in Central Texas.

The different types of neurosurgical procedures include:

Neurosurgeons specialize in surgery for chronic pain by implanting devices such as spinal cord stimulators, intrathecal pain pumps, deep brain stimulators, and peripheral stimulators. Other pain management procedures performed include laminectomy, spinal fusion, discectomy, peripheral nerve decompressions, microvascular decompressions, tumor resection, syrinx drainage and foraminotomy.

Minimally invasive surgeries include endoscopic endonasal surgery, ventricular endoscopy (used to repair cerebrospinal fluid leaks, pituitary tumors, etc.), techniques such as vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty for spinal fractures, spinal fusions, anterior cervical diskectomy, etc. Microsurgery is also used in several aspects of neurosurgery with microvascular techniques such as carotid endarterectomy and extracranial-intracranial bypass surgery.

Neurosurgeons use conventional techniques and a combination of open and stereotactic techniques, such as stereotactic navigation, to enable 3D images of the patient’s anatomy during the procedure.

Commonly performed neurosurgeries include:

Advanced Pain Care/Advanced Neurosurgery is pleased to offer neurosurgery services for pain relief.

At Advanced Pain Care, our neurosurgery experts implant spinal cord stimulators, intrathecal pain pumps and peripheral nerve stimulators, minimally invasive spinal decompressions and discectomies.

The neurosurgeons at Advanced Pain Care offer a range of operative and non-operative treatments for different neurological conditions.

At Advanced Pain Care, the specialists in the neurosurgery department work in a multidisciplinary manner to provide the best treatment for different conditions affecting the brain, spinal cord, spinal column, and central and peripheral nerves.

Treatments at Advanced Pain Care are patient-centric and include pharmacologic interventions, physical therapy, rehabilitation, critical care management, and pain management.

Visit https://austinpaindoctor.com/ for more information on the Neurosurgery specialty at Advanced Pain Care. If you are looking for the best neurosurgeon near you, call 512-244-4272 to schedule a same or next day appointment with a Neurosurgeon today.