Rare brain tumour surgery performed at RMI Peshawar

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Surgeons of Rehman Medical Institute (RMI) Peshawar have performed a surgery and removed brain tumour from a patient who remained awake throughout the procedure, said a press release issued by the hospital on Thursday.
This procedure was led by Neurosurgeon Dr. Akbar Ali Khan and it took almost 2 hours to be completed.
The 30 years old patient is resident of Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The doctor removed his tumour close to the tricky part of brain, which controls arms and legs. It was the first of its kind surgery carried out at RMI.
Dr. Akbar Ali Khan told that brain awake surgeries have also been conducted at Aga Khan Hospital, Karachi and Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad.
He said that awake brain surgery, also called awake craniotomy, is a type of procedure in which the patient is awaked but sedated, allowing neurosurgeons to remove the tumour that would otherwise be inoperable because of the growths being too close to areas of the brain that control speech and limb movement, etc.
“If tumour or the area of brain where seizures occur is near to the parts of the brain that control vision, limbs movement or speech, the patient may need to be awake during surgery,” he said.
According to him this kind of surgery allows the surgeons to monitor the activity in brain and the patient response. He said that the patient’s responses help surgeons to ensure that correct area of his/her brain that requires the surgery is being treated. This procedure, he said, also lowers the risk of damage to functional areas of patient’s brain.
However, Dr. Akbar Ali Khan warned that doctors must be sure that they are not damaging an area of the brain that affects patient’s speech and motor skills as it is difficult to pinpoint those areas exactly before surgery. “Awakened brain surgery allows the surgeon to know exactly which areas of your brain control those functions and avoid them,” he concluded.