First Brain Mapping and Neuro Navigation Guided Tumour Excision in Faridabad

Sarvodaya Healthcare’s neurosurgery team performed intricate and life-saving brain surgery on a 55-year-old patient while he was awake - marking the first time this procedure has been successfully performed in Faridabad using Brain Mapping & Neuro Navigation Technology.

The surgery – known as an Awake Craniotomy – was performed on a patient having a Malignant Brain Tumor. Doctors used Motor Cortex Mapping with Neuro Navigation to find the precise location of the tumour, and check the proper functioning of important areas of the brain during the surgery.

Patient, Kirpal Singh, started having issues in performing daily life activities and he knew that his problem was getting worse when he noticed that it’s getting difficult to change gear with his left hand while driving the car.

“On initial diagnosis, we found that the patient had a lemon-sized tumour (5.5*4.5 cm) in the right side of his brain. The area of his brain affected was responsible for major body function including the movement of his left hand. We suggested surgery to remove the tumour as any delay could have led to full body paralysis or even death of the patient. Conventionally, for brain tumour excision, we prefer full-body anaesthesia before conducting surgery, but in this case, we wanted to observe body functions while operating so that we can ensure that any normal part of the brain is not damaged. Hence, we kept the patient on partial anaesthesia and performed Awake Brain Surgery. During the surgery we used neuro navigation technique which helps surgeons in navigating the path to the tumour just like a GPS locator”, said Dr. Gaurav Kesri, Consultant, Neurosurgery.  

“For the first time in Faridabad, our team successfully used Cortical Mapping Technique during a brain tumour surgery. In this procedure, a tiny electrical probe is used to stimulate the brain and see if it controls any bodily movement. Simultaneously, the probe stimulation shows electrical brain activity on screen so that we can ensure that the part we are operating is only a tumour and not the functional brain area”, Dr. Kamal Verma, Director, Neurosurgery at Sarvodaya Healthcare.

“To ensure that surrounding nerves are not disturbed we made the patient hold a hockey stick, work on a laptop, and talk to his son on a video call while we were removing the tumour from his brain. The surgery took less than three days and we were able to discharge the patient two days after the surgery” said, Dr. Gaurav Kesri.

Tumor excision using such techniques enables patients to recover faster and leads to a better quality of life by significantly reducing the chance of operative complications.