Changes in Neurosurgery overtime
Historians speculate that even during 7000 B.C.E ,in what is now modern day france, successful brain surgeries took place (Siegfired). Ancient neurosurgery was performed for religious purposes, to treat seizures, spinal injuries, and head injuries(Siegfried). Presently, we use Neurosurgery for a large variety of applications such as treating psychiatric conditions, seizures, spinal injuries, and head injuries, similar to Ancient neurosurgery (Mendelsohn). Although one can argue neurosurgery has fundamentally stayed the same, the methods, procedures, and tools for Neurosurgery have changed drastically . Neurosurgeons now have more advanced technology and tools, a better understanding of the brain, a top-tier
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One prime example would be the toolbox of neurosurgeons. Ancient neurosurgeons roughly shaped pieces of obsidian for the incincion and in the contemporary world, neurosurgeons also use obsidian, instead shaped by precise automated machines and lasers, for the incision (Siegfried). Key advances were made during Greco-Roman times. As previously stated, neurosurgery was more of a religious practice than it was a medical procedure, but when the second century came around, Greek philosophers and physicians started to try and get a more in depth understanding of the brain (Cellunia). Hippocrates, for example, accurately described seizures, spine fractures, head concussions, and spasms. His work was used for two thousand years, except by europeans during the middle ages, after his death in 360 B.C. In fact, many of his papers are integral to our understanding of the brain (Siegfried). More advanced technology was introduced, vastly increasing neurosurgeons understanding of the brain. Neurosurgeons were now able to dig deeper in the brain, allowing for more effective tumor surgery compared to that of the Arabs in 932 A.D (Siegfried). Although our technology was more advanced, neurosurgeons still had limited knowledge on the brain, performing surgeries such as lobotomies, which included taking out the frontal lobes of the brain, regularly, Lobotomies are no longer practiced in the United States due to better alternatives and extensive research on the effectiveness of lobotomies (Freeman). There are even limitation on neurosurgeons currently. We are still unable to depict the difference between healthy and cancerous brain cells at the edge of tumor, and neurosurgeons’ ability to remove a tumor could use some work in the aspect of accuracy (Brain and spine team). All in all, there has been and will always be a need to advance and innovate
The Thurmond Rule is an informal and somewhat amorphous rule in the United States Senate regarding confirmations of judicial nominees. While it originated with former Senator Strom Thurmond's opposition to President Lyndon Johnson's nomination of Justice Abe Fortas to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in June 1968, the specifics of the rule vary between sources. Thurmond himself said that no lifetime judicial appointments should move in the last six months or so of a lame-duck presidency.[1] In the last year of George W. Bush's second term Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy stated the rule as meaning "judicial nominations do not advance in the Senate in the latter part of a presidential election year without the support of Senate leaders
Although these surgeson were trying to avoid posing of system the surgical tools they used were made with Mercury a highly toxic element; this was also a case of trial and error during the time to better the doctors knowledge. With the case of trial and error brought about many medical theories. Some of these doctors professed that these different theories were helpful like the acid/alkaline theory, others like, the Four Humor Theory of Medicine, was thought to be ludicrous.(Chachoua,2013) These ideas of the different theories shed the spectrum of formal knowledge the doctors knew to the informal knowledge. With this whole era of lacking knowledge slowly progressed into knowing more throughout the later
Did you know that there are about 100,000 miles of blood vessels in the brain (Neurologist 2011)? It is true, which is why neurosurgeons must take special care when operating procedures in this vital part of our body. Neurosurgeons, equally known as brain surgeons, specialize in the activities occurring in the brain and nervous system. Training to become a brain surgeon requires a 6-7 year neurosurgical residency following four years of medical school (citation). Brain surgeons primarily perform complex surgeries on the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerves. Becoming a brain surgeon result in significant benefits such as they heal problems in one of the most complex parts of the body, the brain, they help all
The mission of the Neuroscience Service Line is “to provide excellent comprehensive and innovative patient care and access for all Neurological and Spinal Disorders.” The Vision is “to be the premier Neuroscience Center in the Southeast and nation leader in innovative Neurological and Neurosurgical care with global recognition and timely access.” The NSICU offers innovative, comprehensive care for patients with neurological disorders while advancing treatment and mechanisms of neurological diseases, disorders, and injuries of the brain and spinal cord. An integrative approach is used that combines multiple clinical disciplines and extensive research to provide the best possible, evidence-based, health care. Tim Porter-O’Grady mentions, "not only must we close the door on the old models of health delivery and clinical work, but they must turn around and face the future, viewing the entire landscape to develop a workable vision", (Porter-O’Grady & Malloch, 2015, p. 11) this concept is evident at
There have been many contributions in these discoveries for example, anesthesia. This has helped the patients experience little to no pain during a procedure but before people had to be awake and feel everything happening to them.
"The Allegory of the Cave," by Plato, explains that people experience emotional and intellectual revelations throughout different stages in their lives. This excerpt, from his dialogue The Republic, is a conversation between a philosopher and his pupil. The argument made by this philosopher has been interpreted thousands of times across the world. My own interpretation of this allegory is simple enough as Plato expresses his thoughts as separate stages. The stages, very much like life, are represented by growing realizations and newfound "pains." Therefore, each stage in "The Allegory of the Cave" reveals the relation between the growth of the mind and age.
I have always had a passion for helping individuals no matter what their situations were. Growing up, I was in the hospital at least once a year or even more due to an injury that I had acquired due to my daredevil stunts. As a child, I remember jumping off the top of my bunk bed into a jar of vaseline and splitting my eye. My stunts were very dangerous and kept me with a spot on a hospital bed at Christ Advocate Hospital. By constantly being at the hospital, it became a home to me. I would become fascinated as I waited in the waiting room seeing all of the different injuries. This fascination only led me to learn to explore further. I would spend my late nights ,when I was suppose to be sleep, staying up until 12 am watching different surgeries on YouTube. The more gruesome the surgery, the more I wanted to experience it.
I have always been a firm believer in self-exploration and diversification. Though I started my medical career in Pakistan, I moved to US to learn and experience the medical distinction. I started appreciating the value of evidence-based medicine and best practice guidelines in the western medicine. I always desired to be a critical care physician. I got chance to learn and experience Neurocritical Care for the first time at UNM. This experience facilitated my special interest in Neuroscience. Recently, I completed my basic training in Neurology and am one step closer to my fundamental goal of getting the best available training in Neurocritical
The history of surgery -as well as surgeons- can be traced back to 3000 BC and has continued since then through the Neolithic Age, Middle Ages and the Renaissance up until now. The oldest performance of surgery which can be traced, is called Trephination, and is when a hole is scraped or drilled into the human skull, removing a piece of bone that reveals blood vessels and the dura mater -which is the thick outermost membrane surrounding the spinal cord and the brain. This surgical intervention is done to treat problems that were associated with intracranial diseases, mental disorders, epileptic seizures and migraines. This act was a worldwide practice that was done throughout Africa, South America and Asia, etc. In Egypt, trephination was used to treat neurological diseases and pain caused from skull trauma, but history has proven that some of these skulls that were discovered showed signs of these diseases where the hole was positioned. Despite trephination being used for medical reasons, some researchers believe that it was also used for another purpose: ritual or religious beliefs.
During the early 1970’s something called Computed Tomography (CT) Scanning was introduced into medicine. The CT scans were able to provide the first clear image of the brain and brain tumors. This was done by using X-Rays which provided doctors with images of a section or “slice” of the brain. In the following decades, CT Scanning becomes more and more refined and is now also being paired with other imaging techniques such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) which was invented by Damadian in 1977 (Filler, 2009).
Psychosurgery is a combination of psychiatry and neurosurgery. Psychiatry is a study that is focused on the treatment of emotional disturbance, mental illness, and abnormal behavior of human beings. Psychosurgery is brain surgery that usually is used to treat mental illness (Gallea, 2017). During this procedure, a hole is drilled or cut into the skull using surgical tools when the skull is opened the surgeon disables parts of the brain in order to attempt to treat behavior disorders, personality disorders, or other mental illnesses (Norris, 2005). We are able to trace psychosurgery back to the Stone Age times starting with craniotomies. A craniotomy is a surgical procedure where the skull is opened (Gallea,2017).
During these clinical rotations, I experienced the powerful relationship that neurosurgeons share with their patients. I had the opportunity to actively participate in the surgical procedures, learn from leading experts in Neurosurgery and witness the extremely rewarding aspects of
The practice of medicine has been shaped through the years by advances in the area of diagnostic procedures. Many of these advances were made possible by scientific breakthroughs made before the 20th century. Modern medicine arguably emerged. Both normal and abnormal functions (physiology and pathology) were increasingly understood within smaller units, first the tissues and then the cells. Microscopy also played a key role in the development of bacteriology. Physicians started to use stethoscope as an aid in diagnosing certain diseases and conditions. New ways of diagnosing disease were developed, and surgery emerged as an important branch of medicine. Above all, a combination of science and technology underpinned medical knowledge and
Verbal persuasion is the third way of influencing individual’s beliefs whether their capabilities can enable them to finish a task successfully or not (Bandura, 1997, p.101). Verbal persuasion is other people’s word and talk about one’s ability to accomplish certain tasks (Labone, 2004, p. 343). When individuals are persuaded that they can master specific activities, their self-efficacy beliefs will be enhanced, then they will put in a great deal of effort to achieve their goals and they will also be quite determined when facing difficulties (Bandura, 1995, p. 4). Conversely, individuals receive negative evaluation are likely to doubt their capabilities. Therefore, persuasive efficacy will have strongest impact on people who believe they can
In every study, a general, overarching theme prevails in the conclusions. DC increased likelihood of poor outcome (Cooper et al., 2011). Many complications arose from normal changes that occur after surgery, meaning that certain factors don’t necessarily indicate that certain patients to have a poor outcome. In all studies across the board, similar percentages of complications were recorded even with different populations, so age/population might not have an effect on complication rates (Stiver, 2009). Contusion expansion and age are significantly predictive of death from DC. Subdural effusion was significantly associated with low postop death risk (Ban et al., 2010). The study found that age, anisocoria,