Journal of neurosurgery
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Journal of neurosurgery · Dec 2021
ReviewEnhanced Recovery After Surgery strategies for elective craniotomy: a systematic review.
Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) has led to a paradigm shift in perioperative care through multimodal interventions. Still, ERAS remains a relatively new concept in neurosurgery, and there is no summary of evidence on ERAS applications in cranial neurosurgery. ⋯ A wide range of evidence-based interventions are available to improve recovery after elective craniotomy, although there are few published ERAS protocols. Patient-centered optimization of neurosurgical care spanning the pre-, intra-, and postoperative periods is feasible and has already provided positive results in terms of improved outcomes such as postoperative pain, patient satisfaction, reduced length of stay, and cost reduction with an excellent safety profile. Although fast-track recovery protocols and ERAS studies are gaining momentum for elective craniotomy, prospective trials are needed to provide stronger evidence.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Dec 2021
Cost-effectiveness of endovascular thrombectomy in patients with low Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Scores (< 6) at presentation.
The utility of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) in patients with acute ischemic stroke, large vessel occlusion (LVO), and low Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Scores (ASPECTS) remains uncertain. The objective of this study was to determine the health outcomes and cost-effectiveness of EVT versus medical management in patients with ASPECTS < 6. ⋯ This study suggests that EVT is the more cost-effective approach compared to medical management in patients with ASPECTS < 6 in the long term (lifetime horizon), considering the poor outcomes and significant disability associated with nonreperfusion.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Dec 2021
Balancing task sensitivity with reliability for multimodal language assessments.
Intraoperative tasks for awake language mapping are typically selected based on the language tracts that will likely be encountered during tumor resection. However, diminished attention and arousal secondary to perioperative sedatives may reduce a task's usefulness for identifying eloquent cortex. For instance, accuracy in performing select language tasks may be high preoperatively but decline in the operating room. In the present study, the authors sought to identify language tasks that can be performed with high accuracy in both situational contexts so the neurosurgical team can be confident that speech errors committed during awake language mapping result from direct cortical stimulation to eloquent cortex, rather than from poor performance in general. ⋯ While TR lacks sensitivity in identifying language deficits at baseline, accuracy on TR is stable across testing settings. Baseline accuracy on the other four of our five language tasks was not predictive of intraoperative performance, signifying the need to repeat language tests prior to stimulation mapping to confirm reliability.
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Journal of neurosurgery · Dec 2021
The safety profile and angioarchitectural changes after acute targeted embolization of ruptured arteriovenous malformations.
The aim of this study was to 1) compare the safety and efficacy of acute targeted embolization of angiographic weak points in ruptured brain arteriovenous malformations (bAVMs) versus delayed treatment, and 2) explore the angioarchitectural changes that follow this intervention. ⋯ This study demonstrates that acute targeted embolization of angiographic weak points, particularly aneurysms, is technically safe and protective in the early phase of recovery from ruptured bAVMs. Serial follow-up imaging is necessary to monitor the evolution of the nidus after targeted and definitive treatments. Larger prospective studies are needed to validate these findings.