Doctors at AIIMS in Delhi achieved a remarkable medical milestone by conducting a brain tumor removal surgery on a five-year-old girl while she was awake. This groundbreaking operation, carried out on January 4, positioned the young girl as the youngest patient globally to undergo an 'awake craniotomy' or conscious sedation technique surgery.
The child, who had a history of seizures, underwent an MRI that revealed a tumor located on the left side of her brain, close to the area responsible for speech and language. The surgery, which lasted three hours, was successfully executed by a team of skilled neurosurgeons. Throughout this extraordinary procedure, the young patient remained fully conscious, and the tumor was effectively removed.
“Technological adjuncts viz preoperative functional MRI brain, intraoperative ultrasonography, neuronavigation were used to localise tumour precisely during resection while mapping of functional areas was being carried out under awake conditions. Ice cold saline was used for the brain surface to prevent any seizures during the procedure,” the statement said. “The child is doing well and will be sent home on Monday,” it said.
Prior to the surgery, the young girl underwent assessments involving the identification of common objects and animals, along with language and sensorimotor tasks. Remarkably, these same tasks were also conducted during the surgical procedure, integrating them into the operation's unique approach.