Taking the Pain out of Brain Surgery

Sukumvit Hospital treats brain tumour patient with
state-of-the-art Computerised Navigator Microsurgery System.

Towards the end of May, a female patient, complaining of chronic headaches and numbness to her body’s left limbs, came in for a treatment at the hospital. Prior to arriving, this patient had already visited several doctors who had diagnosed migraine as the main cause for her persistent headaches.

As a result, she was prescribed painkillers, which only provided temporary relief, as the headaches never completely went away. Over a period of time, she began feeling an uneasy weakness on her left, arm and leg, and this is was what encouraged her to approach Sukumvit Hospital.

Knowing that her condition was not normal, the hospital assigned her caseto their neurosurgeon, Dr Boonchote Kiangkittiwan for his diagnosis and treatment. After studying her case history and concluding that these headaches were not normal, Dr Boonchote ordered a high speed CT scan of her brain, which showed an abnormal reading, prompting the need for further tests. An MRI was then performed, which revealed a six centimetre large tumour lodged firmly on the right hemisphere of her brain.

The tumour caused extra pressure on the surrounding brain cells, which was the main cause of her headaches that also led to swelling in that area of the brain. Moreover, as the tumour was pressing on the surrounding brain cells responsible for the motor functions of her body, the patient’s left arm and leg became weak and difficult to control.

As this condition could prove fatal, Dr Boonchote recommended microsurgery to remove the tumour. It was a deep and difficult process to reach the tumour’s location, as this required the opening and manoeuvring of the skull, which was dangerous and could cause numerous side effects and complications that the doctor must avoid.

Suffice to say, this procedure could ultimately lead to unnecessary damage to the nervous system. Thus, Dr Boonchote recommended microsurgery with a Computerised Navigator System instead. There are often times when doctors who perform brain surgery with normal surgical tools could face the dilemma of mistakenly cutting into the nervous system and healthy brain tissues, causing major problems with speech, hearing and locomotion, to name but a few.

Dr Boonchote Kiangkittiwan, Neurosurgeon

“Complicated brain surgery can now be performed with minimal risk and pain, as well as without fear of unwanted complications and side effects”.

However, microsurgery, currently available at Sukumvit Hospital, employs the use of both a Computerised Navigator System and a high powered microscope. This combination provides the tumour’s precise location in a high resolution 3D format, while the high power magnetic microscope,which is the best of today’s microscopes, ensures clear vision, as the image is enlarged tenfold, allowing the surgeon to easily get to the tumour during surgery.

The surgeon is then able to clearly visualise and avoid tiny nerve veins, while limiting any damage to healthy tissues. These devices form the core of microsurgery and rank amongst the most important. After a successful brain surgery, the patient was kept for overnight observation in the ICU before being moved to a normal room.

Her headaches had completely stopped, and the strength in her left limbs returned to normalcy within a few hours after completing surgery. Dr Boonchote says “complicated brain surgery has a higher success rate and can now be performed with minimal risk and pain, as well as without fear of unwanted complications and side effects”.

Sukumvit Hospital, which began its operations in 1977, has just completed a major makeover. Not only have they built a brand new building, but the entire team of doctors, specialists, nurses and assistants have all been trained with the singular aim of helping their patients maintain optimum health.

Then there are the equipment, state-of- the-art MRIs, Cath labs and myriad of others, so that their specialists have the best available tools for diagnosis and treatment. Conveniently located on Sukhumvit Road with English speaking staff, Sukumvit Hospital is now ready for any emergencies or treatments.

Sukumvit Hospital 1411 Sukhumvit Road, (Ekkamai BTS) Phrakanong Nua, Wattana, Bangkok, Thailand 10110 02 391 0011
www.sukumvithospital.com Facebook: @sukumvithospital

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Expat Life in Thailand is a community lifestyle magazine for expatriates (a person who has citizenship in at least one country, but who is living in another country) living in Thailand with an appetite and a zest for the best of life!
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