What is Epilepsy?
Epilepsy is a disorder of the brain characterized by recurrent seizures which are episodes of involuntary shaking, produced as a result of abnormal electrical brain activity. Medications are available and effective in controlling a large number of epilepsy cases; however, if your epileptic attacks are severe and cannot be controlled by medications alone, or you are experiencing severe side effects from the medication, surgery may be a good option to consider.
Before deciding on surgery, your doctor will confirm the exact area of your brain producing the seizure (seizure focus) and ensure that it is not responsible for vital functions such as movement and language.
Procedure of Epilepsy Surgery
Surgery may be performed to either remove the region producing seizures, interrupt nerve pathways spreading the seizures in the brain or to implant a device to treat epilepsy. Some of the different forms of surgery performed include:
- Lobe resection: Resection of a cerebral lobe (one of four regions that comprise most of the brain tissue), mostly the temporal lobe of your brain where seizures usually arise
- Lesionectomy: Specific lesion (tumor or abnormal blood vessel) in your brain causing the seizure is removed
- Corpus callosotomy: Cutting the band of nerve tissue that connects the two halves of your brain to prevent seizures from spreading to the opposite side.
- Vagus nerve stimulation: Implantation of a device under your skin to control the vagus nerve, which is responsible for regulating activity between the brain and major organs.
- Responsive neurostimulation: Implantation of a neurostimulator in your skull to detect and normalize abnormal electrical activities of seizures before they occur.
Risks and Complications of Epilepsy Surgery
Surgery is effective in a large number of cases. However, as with all surgical procedures, epilepsy surgery may be associated with certain risks such as infection, bleeding, failure, and the requirement for operating again or the development of new neurological problems.
You may be completely free of seizures following surgery but may have to continue your anti-seizure medication until your doctor decides it is safe to discontinue them.
