NEUROSURGERY

Neurosurgery is the branch of medicine that deals with surgery of the nervous system (brain, spinal cord or peripheral nerves). In the past 20 years, there have been many new developments including the use of computerised navigation, stereotactic radiosurgery and endoscopic surgery. These allow the neurosurgeon to do procedures with more accuracy and less risk to the brain.

Common conditions treated by Neurosurgeons

• Head trauma (skull fractures, blood clots, etc)
• Spine and spinal cord trauma
• Brain tumours
• Tumours of the spine, spinal cord and peripheral nerves
• Sudden bleeding into the brain (including bleeding from high blood pressure, blood vessel abnormalities and cerebral aneurysms)
• Cervical and lumbar disc herniation (causing compression of the spinal cord and exiting nerves in the neck and back)
• Compression of peripheral nerves (such as carpal tunnel syndrome)
• Some forms of epilepsy
• Some forms of movement disorders (including Parkinson’s disease)
• Congenital malformations of the nervous system
• Strokes (due to blocked arteries or burst blood vessels)
• Hydrocephalus (obstruction of flow of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain)
• Severe facial pain from trigeminal neuralgia
• Involuntary facial twitching from hemifacial spasm

Symptoms of Nervous System Problems

• Brain problems - headaches, weakness / numbness / loss of vision, loss of consciousness, coma, epilepsy.
• Spine problems - neck and back pain, together with arm and leg pain, weakness and numbness
• Nerve problems - pain, weakness, tingling and numbness, sweaty palms