Epilepsy & Seizure Surgery

Types of Epilepsy & Seizure Surgery

Resective brain surgery

• For this most common epilepsy and seizure surgery, an open procedure, surgeons remove a small portion of brain tissue in the area of the brain causing your seizures.
• This type of surgery is often the best chance at a cure for epilepsy. We only recommend this surgery if the benefits far outweigh the risks of any long-term neurological damage.
• Patients usually go home a few days after resective surgery.

Laser Ablation

• In this procedure, our neurosurgeons use MRI to guide the use of laser interstitial thermal therapy. The laser is in a tiny probe that uses heat to target and destroy a very small area of brain that is causing the seizures.
• Considered minimally-invasive because it does not require removing any parts of the skull (craniotomy), it has a relatively quick recovery time and patients usually go home the next day.  

Responsive neurostimulation (NeuroPace)

• This is a treatment for reducing the frequency of seizures that can’t be controlled by medication or surgical resection.
• A small, battery-powered device called a neurostimulator is implanted in the skull in the operating room. Wires, called leads, that are connected to the neurostimulator, are placed on and/or inside the brain. The neurostimulator monitors brain activity at all times and tries to stop seizures before they start.
• Your epilepsy doctor can review data from your brain, as recorded by the stimulator, to see how well it is working, and adjust the programming settings at office appointments.
• You can find more information at www.neuropace.com.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS)

• This surgical procedure involves implanting electrodes in the brain to deliver electrical currents that block or change the abnormal activity that causes seizures.
• Electrodes are placed in a part of the brain called the thalamus. They are connected by wires to a type of pacemaker device called an implantable pulse generator, which is placed under the skin below the collarbone.
• Once activated, the pulse generator delivers electrical currents at regular intervals, modifying the abnormal brain activity and, therefore, reducing seizure frequency.
• Because the device operates like a pacemaker for the heart, it is sometimes called a “pacemaker for the brain.”
• Find more information at https://www.medtronic.com/us-en/patients/treatments-therapies/deep-brain-stimulation-epilepsy.html.

Vagus nerve stimulation

• This is another type of “pacemaker for the brain” that is surgically implanted under the skin below the collarbone, with a wire connected to the vagus nerve in the neck. The device delivers an electrical current every few minutes to help adjust brain patterns and prevent seizures from starting.
• Some patients use a hand-held magnet to activate the device if they feel a seizure starting. This can help make the seizure shorter or even stop it.
• Find more information at https://www.livanova.com/epilepsy-vnstherapy/en-us.