A neurosurgery hospital is a hospital that specializes in the treatment of conditions relating to the brain, skull and nervous system. These hospitals generally have many neurosurgeons available to treat a number of conditions ranging from cancer to seizures. Having many specialists in one place makes a neurosurgery hospital a collaborative environment where new surgical techniques are developed. As neurosurgery can require a long healing process, these hospital also have many general neurologists and other physicians to help patients through their recovery process.
There are two primary reasons neurosurgery hospitals exist as separate entities from regular hospitals. The first is that as the hospital has a number of specialists in one place, many surgeons can help treat patients, thus raising survival rates. The second is that as these specialists work together, they collectively create new procedures and techniques to further advance medical science.
With the rapid development of surgical techniques and medical technology, neurosurgery is able to treat conditions that were death sentences just decades ago. One of the main conditions treated in a neurosurgery hospital is brain cancer. Through the use of an MRI or CAT scan, a surgeon can pinpoint the location of any brain tumor before surgery. Brain mapping allows the surgeon to bypass critical areas of the brain during surgery. These advances have made more surgeries possible and reduced the chances of brain damage.
Another procedure performed in a neurosurgery hospital is a corpus callosotomy for the treatment of seizures. The corpus collosum is a bundle of neural fibers that connect the right and left hemispheres of the brain. By severing their connections, seizures originating from one hemisphere cannot damage the other. The patient can attain better brain function and thus a higher quality of life.
A more common condition treated at a neurosurgery hospital is head trauma. Head trauma can occur from a number of events such as a car crash or sports injury. Many neurosurgeons may work on a single patient during surgery; specialists for the skull, brain and veins/arteries may all be necessary to heal a patient.
Neurosurgery hospitals also include many neurologists and physicians that do not perform surgery. Pre- and post-operative care may take weeks if not months. These physicians are tasked with providing non-surgical treatments or, if surgery should be necessary, facilitating the recovery process. As with the collaboration of surgeons, the collaboration of these physicians add to the improvement of patient care.