“Compared with the traditional procedure, it already has the advantages of eliminating the need for drains and reducing surgical complications, and now Shuguang Hospital has added “needle anesthesia” to this procedure. Now Shuguang Hospital has added “needle anesthesia” to the procedure, so that more patients with comorbidities and advanced age can also be included in the indications, benefiting more patients.
Recently, a 78-year-old woman was admitted to Shuguang Hospital with progressive walking difficulties, incontinence and slurred speech for half a month, and was in a hazy state of consciousness and unable to communicate with others. An emergency cranial CT showed that the patient had significant hydrocephalus. Traditional “ventriculoperitoneal shunt” requires a drainage tube to be buried in the patient’s body, with one end of the tube placed in the ventricle and the other end introducing cerebrospinal fluid into the abdominal cavity through a subcutaneous tunnel. Not only did Zhou have a variety of high-risk factors such as hypertension and diabetes, but she also had a history of heart stenting and multiple cerebral infarcts, which could result in significant complications from the procedure.
Because of her age and many comorbidities, Zhou’s surgery was relatively risky. The surgeon opened a small hole in the patient’s head, placed a ventriculoscope only 6 mm thick into the patient’s ventricle, and opened a keyhole of about 1 cm in diameter at the bottom of the patient’s third ventricle under direct endoscopic vision, allowing the cerebrospinal fluid to re-enter the physiological circulation pathway. The needle-drug compound anesthesia kept the patient in a light sleep state, minimizing the effect of anesthetic drugs on the respiration and circulation of the elderly patient. The surgery lasted less than an hour and was successfully completed. She was discharged from the hospital one week later and was able to walk slowly when she was discharged.
The director of the Department of Brain Surgery, Mr. Fei Zhimin, introduced that the minimally invasive endoscopic technique can be useful for treating not only hydrocephalus, but also saddle area tumor, arachnoid cyst, and other vascular and tumor diseases. Under the anesthesia of needle anesthesia, it can also maximize the protection for the surgery.