How long should I stay for Brain Surgeries?
How is surgery performed?
What is the post-sugical care?
What are the possible risks and complications?
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How long should I stay for Brain Surgeries?
It is advisable to stay at least 1 month to complete a whole process. On an arrival day in Thailand, a patient should stay in a hotel to relax from a long flight and have a surgery on the following day. Hospital stay and post surgery check up period depend on cases.
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How is surgery performed?
Before Craniotomy, CT scan or MRI and angiography is performed. No food is allowed 8 hours before an operation. Steroid is prescribed to reduce brain swelling. Tubes will be placed into veins and arteries in the arms to pass drugs and monitor blood pressure. The surgical area will be shaved and cleaned to avoid infection. The skull is opened by a curved cut, called a flap. Between the brain and skull is a thick membrane called the Dura which is opened too. When the operation is completed, everything is closed with stitches. A tube to drain blood from under the scalp is usually left in place and dressing the wound.
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What is the post-sugical care?
You will be constantly watched in a special ward for a day or two. Intravenous drips and drain tubes will be removed after about 48 hours and stitches (or staples) will be taken out between 2 and 10 days later. Steroid tablets will be reduced gradually over several days. The wound is usually numb or itches slightly for up to 6 months after surgery, which is normal. Some may have problems about the jaw stiff and hard to open wide. This usually recovers within a few weeks. Return to work will depend on cases.
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What are the possible risks and complications?
Steroid can sometimes cause stomach upset: the doctor must be told if you have previously had a stomach ulcer. Any operation can be complicated by heart trouble, chest infection, blood clots in the leg (thrombosis) and wound infection. The major specific complications of brain surgery are damage to the brain at the time of surgery and bleeding within the head after the operation. Meningitis and epilepsy occasionally follow craniotomy. The actual risk in a particular case will depend on the complexity of the operation.