Patient question: Doctor, I am suffering from facial spasm. I have learned that there is a procedure called “microvascular decompression” that can cure my disease. But the thought of having to open my skull is very scary! I had the impression that someone had become stupid after having a craniotomy. I don’t even dare to go to the hospital to consult a doctor. I would like to ask you first through the Internet: Is the surgery dangerous? Will there be any after-effects? Will I become stupid after the surgery? Doctor: Hello, I understand how you feel at this moment. After all, anyone who is facing open-heart surgery will feel worried, even anxious and fearful, and the reason for this is that the patient does not know enough about the overall situation of the surgery. Facial muscle spasm surgery started in the 1960s and has become a mature procedure after more than 50 years of development. In 1999, Dr. McLaughlin of the Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania, USA, investigated the post-operative complications of 4,415 patients who underwent “microvascular decompression surgery” at the center. In 2003, Dr. Kalkanis of Massachusetts General Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, surveyed 1,326 patients who underwent microvascular decompression surgery in the United States from 1996 to 2000. patients experienced bleeding, 0.6% experienced facial palsy, and 0.4% experienced hydrocephalus, with an overall mortality rate of 3 in 1,000 due to complications.