Are you experiencing seizures that you cannot control with medications? Then, it might be time for you to have epilepsy surgery to decrease the severity of your seizures and be seizure-free. The success rate of epilepsy surgery is 85% to 90%. And some people do not even get seizures after the surgery. So, it is important to know the available surgery for epilepsy that you can take according to your condition. Log on to www.doralhw.org for a consultation.

Learn about the different types of brain surgery for epilepsy in this article.

Type of surgery for epilepsy

There are 6 types of surgery for epilepsy:

1. Resective surgery:

This surgery is used to remove the area of the brain that causes seizures. The area of the brain that gets removed is known as seizure focus, meaning the place where seizures begin.

This surgery is the most commonly used type of epilepsy surgery because it is an excellent treatment option for people who have seizures from one area of the brain. The chances of success are highest when the abnormality on MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) matches the area of seizures on ECG monitoring. It is usually performed on one of the temporal lobes, the area of the brain that controls visual memory, language comprehension, and emotions. They can also remove a brain lesion or a portion of a brain lobe that is roughly the size of a golf ball.

2. Laser Interstitial Thermal Therapy (LITT):

This surgery is less invasive than other open surgeries because surgeons use a laser to pinpoint and destroy a small portion of brain tissue.

First, your neurosurgeon makes a small hole in your skull and an MRI scan guides the small probe to the area in the brain where seizures start. Focused laser energy is aimed at the seizure site which changes into heat energy and destroys nerve cells at the seizure site.

A computer program checks the temperature around tissues to protect them from heat injury. This surgery is used if the seizure site is limited to a small area of the brain.

3. Deep brain stimulation:

This surgery involves implanting an electrode in your brain and placing a stimulator device under the skin of your chest. The electrode is implanted in the brain through a small hole made in the skull. Advanced MRI and computer navigation systems are used to guide the electrode to the target location in the brain. The stimulator device placed in the chest is similar to a pacemaker which is connected to the brain electrode. The device sends signals to the brain electrode to block signals that trigger the seizure in the nerve cells. DBS surgery is approved by the US Federal Drug Administration (FDA) in 2018.

4. Corpus callosotomy:

This surgery is reserved for people who experience severe epilepsy which causes seizures involving both sides of the brain. The procedure involves splitting the main connection pathway between the two cerebral hemispheres (different sides of the brain). By cutting the nerve fibers (which connect the two sides of your brain), your surgeon can help stop seizures from spreading from one hemisphere to the other. Once the spread of seizures throughout your brain is stopped, they can help make your seizures less severe.

Individuals who should take this operation must have:

• Frequent tonic, atonic, atypical absence, or tonic-clonic seizures.
• Developmental delay.
• Disabling seizure-related falls.

5. Hemispherectomy:

This surgery involves removing or disconnecting one-half of your brain called the cerebral cortex. This surgery is usually performed on children who experience severe seizures that originate from multiple sites in one hemisphere. In such cases, the hemisphere that’s removed is usually the one that has a lot of injury or damage to it, resulting in paralysis or loss of feeling.

6. Multiple subpial transections:

This surgery involves making several shallow cuts into a limited section of brain tissue that cannot be removed safely. This can include the areas in the brain that control speech or movement.

During the procedure, the neurosurgeon opens the skull and makes a series of fine shallow cuts (transections) into the brain’s gray matter just below the pia mater (the pia is a delicate membrane that surrounds the surface of the brain). The cuts make interruptions in fibers thought to be involved in the spread of electrical seizure activity. Sometimes MSTs are done in combination with surgical resection when the seizure focus is in a critical region (speech or movement) of the brain and complete resection of seizure focus is not possible.

Doral Health and Wellness has several urgent care clinics around New York that can cater to your family’s medical needs. We also have the best medical providers, physicians and staff that are highly trained in their respective specialties. To know more about the locations of our urgent care clinics, you can visit us at Doral Health and Wellness. If you are looking for urgent care near you, you can visit Doral Health and Wellness Urgent Care. We provide urgent care for common illnesses and injuries. Additionally, we also provide comprehensive care for any related injuries and health problems. We also offer other services, such as vaccinations, immunizations, and blood testing. For more info, visit us or call 1-347-384-5690.