A surgeon working in Scotland has developed a way to remove brain tumours the size of apples through patients ’ eyebrows in what is believed to be a world-first for the procedure. Consultant neurosurgeon Anastasios Giamouriadis of NHS Grampian has adapted an existing technique of keyhole surgery to remove tumours which leaves considerably less scarring than regular craniotomies. The change enables Mr Giamouradis to remove much larger tumours from the front of the brain than was previously the case, with some reported to be the size of large apples.
The new method also takes far less time to complete, meaning operating teams are less fatigued when the procedure is finally finished. Mr Giamouradis and his team have performed the new procedure on 48 patients so far and many of them have been able to leave hospital a day later. “I have modified and developed the technique with my team and we are operating on very large brain tumours in the front of the brain and as far back as the middle of the brain,” he explained.
“That makes a significant positive impact on the patient outcome. With normal, extensive craniotomies, the length of the operation is usually about eight hours and patients will spend days in the hospital. “By doing this through the keyhole approach through the eyebrow, it is more challenging technically, but it takes probably half the time - if not less.
“The patient will go home the second day and be back to normal life in most occasions within a week or.