First Ever ‘Awake’ Brain Surgery Performed In Croatia

The first ever ‘awake’ brain operation, where patients have surgery whilst being kept conscious throughout the whole procedure, has been performed in Croatia.

The neurosurgery team at Zagreb’s Sisters of Mercy hospital successfully performed the brain tumor surgery on a 47-year-old man on Monday. The ‘awake’ procedure, which blocks nerve feelings, is known as ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia, or ‘blocks’  and it involves injecting local anaesthetic around specific nerves near the area of surgery, which are located using ultrasound machines and allows the doctor to talk to the patient throughout the procedure.

The Croatian doctors involved in the first ever ‘awake’ brain operation, which went without any problems, had been schooled for the procedure in Padova, Italy. By removing general anaesthetics, the ‘awake’ operations make routine operations faster and safer, allowing those not able to have general anaesthetics to have vital surgery.