Brain surgery is a very big decision, and the treatment of the brain should be done with a specialized, trained, and experienced medical team. Ignoring the fact might cause trouble in the long term. Craniotomy is a neurological procedure to treat various diseases, including brain hemorrhage, brain cancer, brain tumour, biopsies, blood clots, brain aneurysms, vascular malformations, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury, swelling, or pressure relief. However, this treatment also has various side effects, such as memory loss in the short term, motor and sensory impairments, and seizures. In this blog, we are going to discuss more about the craniotomy, its long-term side effects, risks, and benefits in a brief.
What is Craniotomy?
Craniotomy is an invasive procedure to remove a portion of the skull to access the brain to perform surgery and several brain conditions. This procedure is used to treat various diseases such as tumors, blood clots, aneurysms, epilepsy, infections, and vascular malformations. Doctors use a titanium plate and screws to put the skull portion intact after the surgery.
Types of Craniotomy
There are several craniotomy procedures according to the location of the skull removal or treatment:
- Frontal Craniotomy: Incision is created near the hairline and the front of the skull.
- Temporal Craniotomy: Incision is created at the skull next to the eyes and in front of the ear.
- Parietal Craniotomy: Incision is created at the upper-back or the top-middle of the skull.
- Pterional: Incision is created at the side of the skull, which is behind the temple.
- Orbitozygomatic Craniotomy: Incision is created at the part of the skull near the eye socket and cheek
- Keyhole Craniotomy: Incision in the area of the skull behind the ear to access the brain.
- Suboccipital: Incision is created at the base of the skull, above the neck.
Long-Term Side Effects of Craniotomy
Long-term side effects of Craniotomy could appear after a time period depending on the complexity. The major side effects in the long term are cognitive and emotional changes, motor and sensory impairments, speech and language difficulty, fatigue and headache, and seizures. This all can be manageable to a certain limit with the help of the medication.
Cognitive and Emotional Changes
Patients may struggle with memory loss in the short term. Patients will struggle to remember conversations, dates, and talks. Patient’s concentration power will be very low. Patients often experience slow processing speed, anxiety, and depression.
Motor and Sensory Impairments
Patients feel weakness in their arms and legs. They will feel insensibility and tingling sensations all over the body. Patients could possibly suffer from improper balance or coordination during physical activities.in motor and sensory.
Speech and Language Difficulties
Patients may possibily hard to find words to speak and could stammer to speaking. They will be frustrated due to communication difficulties and learning the language. Writing and speaking could be more challenging due to brain fog.
Seizures
Post the craniotomy, patients experience seizures and need medication for the long term. However, some patients may possibly face this problem after a certain time period, depending on the complexity of the surgery.
Headaches and Fatigue
Uncommon fatigue and headache are shown in some patients. It can be regulated by some medications. Fatigue will hinder the recovery and could possibly increase the recovery period. This all leads to disturbance in sleeping and can increase the urge to sleep more in daytime.
Factors Affecting Long-Term Health after Craniotomy
There are various factors that can affect the long-term outcome of the patient after getting a craniotomy:
- Postoperative Care: Less physiotherapies, speech therapy, and psychological support can have negative impact on the patient’s health.
- Extent of Surgery: Complex surgeries could extend the chances of complications.
- Location of Surgery: The location of the surgery has direct impact on the complications post the surgery.
- Overall Health: Other medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension can delay the recovery and can have impact on the health.
- Age of the Patient: Older patients have a longer recovery phase due to healing factors.
Risks in Long-Term Health after Craniotomy
There are various risks that can affect the long-term outcome of the patient after getting a craniotomy:
- Skull Shape: Changes in the skull structure and shape due to the incision created by the surgeons.
- Numbness: Numbness in the forehead and skull after the surgery.
- Pain: While chewing the food, patients could feel pain.
- Bleeding: Internal bleeding could happen and can lead to blood clots.
- Blood Pressure: Patients could be affected by hypertension after the surgery. It can be normalized with medications.
- Seizures: Seizures may occur just after getting the surgery, and they need medications in the long run.
- Balance or Coordination: Weakness and trouble with physical activities and motor nerves, and sensing power is low after the surgery.
- Thinking and Memory Loss: Trouble with short-term memory and thinking ability is low after the surgery, which can make a person frustrated.
- Stroke: Due to high blood pressure, the chances of getting a stroke are high, but it can be managed with medications
- Excess fluid in the Brain: The protein inside the brain starts leaking, resulting in swelling.
Benefits in Long-Term Health after Craniotomy
There are various benefits after getting a craniotomy in the long term:
- Treatment of the Underlying Cause: Treatments to cure various diseases, such as brain tumors, aneurysms, brain swelling, and brain bleeding. Ignoring the treatment of these diseases can cause severe damage or even death.
- Neurological Function: By having this surgery, the patients feel improvement in their neurological function, including cognitive skills, motor skills and brain health.
- Reduced Risk of Future Complications: Treating the condition in the initial phase leads to good long-term health and reduces the risk of complications in the long term.
- Enhanced Quality of Life: Patient returns to their normal lives after a certain recovery time. Work and social life would be very easy for them.
- Potential for Full Recovery: Patients with non-cancerous disease often have a potential for full recovery after the treatment.
Conclusion
Having a craniotomy comes with various side effects, risks and benefits to tackle various diseases related to the brain and cancer in the brain. A Neurosurgical procedure to remove a portion of the skull is a very hard decision for a patient and their families. This surgery comes with many risks like memory loss, motor and sensory impairments, speech and language difficulties, headaches, fatigue, and seizures. However, delay of the treatment can cause risks and complications greater than the risks of the treatment, which are severe damage to the brain or even death.