Neurosurgery is the surgical discipline focused on treating the central and peripheral nervous system. Surgery Surgery (from the Greek cheirourgia - lit. ... The human central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord. ... The peripheral nervous system or PNS, is part of the nervous system, and consists of the nerves and neurons that reside or extend outside the central nervous system--to serve the limbs and organs, for example. ...
Neurosurgeons undergo a rigorous training program consisting of 6-7 years post-graduate study after medical school. This field of medicine is considered to be one of the most difficult and therefore the most prestigious.
Neurosurgical conditions include primarily brain and spinal cord disorders. In the anatomy of animals, the brain, or encephalon, is the supervisory center of the nervous system. ... The spinal cord is a part of the vertebrate nervous system that is enclosed in and protected by the vertebral column (it passes through the spinal canal). ...
Some of the most common conditions treated by neurosurgeons include:
Hydrocephalus (water-head, in Greek) is the abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles of the brain. ... Head trauma is bleeding in the brain. ... A brain tumor is any mass created by an abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells either found in the brain (neurons, glial cells, epithelial cells, myelin producing cells, etc. ... A cerebral or brain aneurysm is a cerebrovascular disorder in which weakness in the wall of a cerebral artery or vein causes a localized dilation or ballooning of the blood vessel. ... A subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is bleeding into the subarachnoid space surrounding the brain, i. ... Spinal stenosis is a medical condition where the spinal canal narrows and pinches the spinal cord and nerves, usually due to disc herniation or a tumour. ...
Brainsurgery is perhaps the oldest of the practiced medical arts.
Pre-Incan civilization used brainsurgery as an extensive practice as early as 2,000 B.C. In Paracas, Peru, a desert strip south of Lima, archeologic evidence indicates that brainsurgery was used extensively.
Brainsurgery was also used for both spiritual and magical reasons; often, the practice was limited to kings, priests and the nobility.
Surgery on the brain is not commonly performed in veterinary medicine, and when it is performed, it is usually done in specialty practices by surgeons or neurosurgeons.
Brainsurgery carries a high risk and often requires intensive monitoring during anesthesia and surgery and after surgery.
Brainsurgery is usually done to remove and/or biopsy brain tumors, relieve excessive pressure on the brain caused by fluid accumulation as in hydrocephalus and cerebral edema, and repair skull fractures that are pressing on the brain.