Neurosurgery

Neurosurgery is a branch of surgery that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the skull, brain, spine and nerves. An increasing number of diseases can be successfully treated with minimal invasiveness (with a small incision in the skin, a small opening in the skull, and increasingly without any incision at all). This is made possible by the development of new knowledge about the cause of the disease, new techniques, and the development of auxiliary devices for treatment.
Patients usually visit this site for one of two reasons: either they are looking for information about their diagnosis, or they are looking for information about the problems that have not yet been accurately diagnosed. The main goal of this site is to answer many questions that we hear from our patients or their relatives during many years of clinical work. However, all this information cannot replace talking to a specialist. The goal is simply to make the process of finding answers and information easier. This site also offers you online consultations with experts.
TOPICS OF ONLINE CONSULTATION can include all neurosurgical diseases of the brain, spine or nerves described on this web site (brain tumors, meningiomas, gliomas, schwannomas, brain injuries, disc herniations, brain aneurysms, nerve injuries, etc.)  as well as all types of long-term and persistent pain (headaches, neck pain, facial pain, trigeminal neuralgia, back pain, herpes zoster neuralgia, intercostal neuralgia, etc.).

Neurosurgery can be conditionally divided into the following areas:

• BRAIN INJURIES
• BRAIN TUMORS
• DISEASES OF BLOOD VESSELS OF THE BRAIN (ANEURISMS, AVM, etc.)
• SPINAL DISEASES (DISC DEGENERATION AND HERNIATION, SPONDYLOTIC CHANGES, SPINAL TUMORS, etc.)
• NERVE INJURIES AND DISEASES
• CONGENITAL ANOMALIES OF THE NERVOUS SYSTEM (HYDROCEPHALUS, ARNOLD CHIARI, etc.)
• PAIN TREATMENT
• NERVOUS SYSTEM INFECTIONS
• FUNCTIONAL NEUROSURGERY (epilepsy, motor diseases, etc.)

The brain, spinal cord and nerves together form the nervous system (NS).

Figure: Central section of the head and neck

Diseases of the brain, spine or nerves can start abruptly, or develop over weeks, months or even years. The symptoms may be isolated in the beginning, and later they can be combined differently depending on the type, localization and intensity of the disease. Often different diseases may present in a similar manner, or, conversely, the same disease may manifest differently in different patients. For example, a spinal tumor and a disc herniation may have similar symptoms. On the other hand, two patients with a disc herniation can have very different symptoms.

The most common symptoms of nervous system diseases are:

Headache – cephalea
Neck stiffness- meningism
Nausea, vomiting and other vegetative disorders
Half body weakness- hemiparesis, hemiplegia
Psycho-organic syndrome (POS) -organic psychosyndrome
Impairment of consciousnesses- somnolence, sopor, coma
Seizures- epileptic seizure, epilepsy
Speech impairment- dysphasia, aphasia
Weakness of the extremities or parts of the extremities (most often the hand or foot) – paresis, plegia
Hearing impairment – hearing loss, tinnitus
Balance  impairment  – vertigo, ataxia
Double vision – diplopia
Visual impairment – anopsia, blurred vision, blindness, etc.
Numbness with different sensations (tingling, painful touch, burning sensation, etc.) – hypesthesia, anesthesia, allodynia, etc.
Paresis of the facial nerve
Smell impairment- anosmia
Swallowing impairment- dysphagia
Neck pain- cervical syndrome
Back and leg pain- Lumbago, sciatica, low back pain, etc.
Limb pain