Who can benefit from pediatric brain tumor resection?
Most children who have tumors in an area of the brain that can be accessed benefit from pediatric brain tumor resection. How is the surgery performed? Once your child is asleep under anesthesia, the pediatric neurosurgeon will make a flap in the scull. This procedure is called a craniotomy. The flap will be removed during surgery. Using advanced stereotactic navigation system to accurately pinpoint the location of the tumor, the neurosurgeon will use a surgical laser to vaporize as much of the tumor as possible. The surgeon may also use an ultrasound aspirator, an advanced piece of equipment that converts a solid tumor to liquid so it can be removed by suction. If a biopsy has not previously been performed, the neurosurgeon may perform one during the resection surgery. A biopsy involves looking at a piece of the tumor under the microscope to verify the type of tumor and determine whether it is cancerous. Once the surgery is complete, the scull flap will be replaced. What happens after
