Pediatric Neurosurgery

These treatments involve implanting small electronic devices into your child’s body, where they can help regulate brain functions. They include:

Deep brain stimulation (DBS)

Surgeons implant small electrodes deep in the brain, which send regular electrical pulses to areas of the brain responsible for controlling movement. This can help treat a variety of movement disorders.

Motor cortex stimulation (MCS)

Surgeons place a small electrode on the surface of the brain, just under the skull, that helps control pain signals. It can be highly effective at reducing pain associated with many different brain and spinal cord conditions.

Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)

Surgeons implant a device in the upper chest that regularly sends gentle electrical pulses to the brain through the vagus nerve in the neck. This alters the way brain cells work and can be used to treat specific forms of epilepsy, depression, or loss of arm function due to stroke.

Procedures to remove tumors and areas of abnormal or damaged tissue from the nervous system, including:

Skull base surgery

Specialized surgery to remove tumors or growths in and around the base of the skull, a complex region that includes several bones and major nerves and blood vessels.

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS)

These techniques (such as Gamma Knife surgery) use precise, focused energy beams to shrink or destroy tissue, including brain tumors and abnormal nerves and blood vessels. SRS is painless and non-invasive, meaning it does not require the neurosurgeon to cut the skin. It may be appropriate when tumors are smaller or when traditional surgery is too risky.

Tumor excision

Surgeons physically remove tumors from the brain or spinal cord through surgical incisions. Often, minimally invasive techniques can be used.

Other neurosurgery procedures we perform include:

Craniotomy

Part of a skull bone is temporarily removed to expose the brain for surgery. This may be necessary for a wide variety of procedures, including emergency surgery for moderate or severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), skull fracture repairs, tumor excisions, and many others.

Epilepsy surgery

Our surgeons may use a variety of techniques, including conventional surgery or focused, high-energy beams (stereotactic radiosurgery) to treat cases of epilepsy that have not responded to medications, diet, or neurostimulation techniques.

Focused ultrasound (FUS)

Multiple focused ultrasound beams (sound waves) are used to precisely target, then heat and destroy, small sections of tissue deep in the brain that are causing symptoms, such as tremors.

Neurovascular surgery

Specialized surgery to treat and repair damaged blood vessels of the brain and spinal cord. This may be required for conditions such as stoke, swollen or narrowed arteries, and other conditions.

Pain management neurosurgery

A variety of surgical techniques may be used to reduce chronic pain from neurological conditions, such as cutting or repositioning structures pressing on a nerve (decompression) or by preventing pain signals from reaching the brain by selectively disabling or destroying specific nerves.