A pioneering surgery has enabled the removal of large brain tumours through patients’ eyebrows, a world first in Scotland. Consultant neurosurgeon Anastasios Giamouriadis developed the technique, which expands the already-existing eyebrow method to remove larger growths. Patients experienced fewer complications, shorter operating and recovery times, and less scarring as a result. Unlike traditional surgery for patients with front-of-brain tumours, which involves removing part of their skull in a lengthy, complex process, the Modified Eyebrow Keyhole SupraOrbital Approach for Brain Tumours typically leaves only a small scar and a black eye.
Patients who underwent the surgery were discharged from the hospital within 24 hours, returning to work almost immediately in some cases. One patient, Doreen Adams, 75, who previously had a craniotomy to remove a tumour, said the difference was “night and day” between the two procedures. Explaining the speed of her recovery and return to normal life, Adams said, “To think you can have brain surgery and be back to normal within a few days is quite incredible.”
Mr Giamouriadis said: “We are not aware of anywhere else in the world that has managed to remove tumours as large as we have. We are entering through the eyebrow. It gives us a very limited space but allows us to carry out the surgery more quickly and with fewer complications.” The operation, which normally takes three hours, can be over in as little as an hour and patients generally experience only a bruised black eye, which returns to normal within a few days.
NHS Grampian, which has facilitated the use of surgical innovations in the region, celebrated the success of the “game-changing” development. The procedure is expected to have a positive impact across health care in that area of the UK, with many patients grateful to have it available there
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