May
okay my freind has had a concusion for a long time and now they are going to remove part of his skull to let his brain expand!
how long will this surgry take? and whats the survival rate?
Answer:
Hi there
Sorry to hear about your friend.
Decompressive craniectomies do not take very long to perform. The surgeon takes a piece of bone out of the skull to give the brain more room to swell outwards rather than downwards towards the spine as swelling of brain matter downwards towards the spine can cause death.
Survival rate from surgery is high because surgery nowadays is very safe. Survival rate of your friend's initial injury (his 'concussion' as you call it) is difficult to predict. The initial concussion makes the brain 'shake' in the skull, therefore it gets 'bruised' and it swells. From swelling (read pressure) further parts of the brain may get injured (secondary injury) and then you get more swelling.
A skull is a closed structure, so the swelling has no where to go. It presses and presses on the brain itself and the whole brain suffers. In bad cases, the brain stem suffers (down towards your spinal canal) and if the brain stem gets squashed, death follows.
The real question is : how much will his brain still expand after the piece of bone is removed and how long will the swelling go on for (hours, days or longer) and is the ultimate swelling small enough for the brain to return to normal size soon enough. The smaller the swelling the better the outcome.
It also depends largely on where the pressure of / on the brain is and has been. If vital functions are damaged, the prognosis is very poor. A poor prognosis means that someone may survive and live, but their brain function will be a little bit OR a lot damaged / influenced and not as good as before (the injury). Some come out walking and talking and some people end up needing care of others to dress, eat and live.
Good luck for your friend and stay strong yourself.
Answer:
My friend had the exact same thing done. It is an evasive surgery, but it is only to relieve the swelling in his brain. It is not a very long surgery, but they keep the head bandaged up for awhile after it.
“Brain swelling and ischemia. Often, a person’s immediate injury may not be the worst. Usually, there is additional secondary injury to the brain that occurs hours to days later. The damage to the brain tissue, blood vessels, and nerves causes the brain to swell. If that swelling is severe, the blood supply to the brain may be blocked (ischemia), leading to tissue death. Also, since the brain is encased in a hard skull, the swelling may actually compress the tissue against bone. Excessive compression of areas such as the brain stem, which is responsible for regulating our breathing and consciousness (among other vital functions), can lead to severe disability and death.”
Answer:
it is about 60 % that you are to survive.
the surgery should take between 3-10 hours depending the curcumstances.
Answer:
50%
long hours of waiting.
Answer:
he may or may not live. im curious for him, email me if hes ok.
Answer:
poor guy
10-14 hours hope he gets well soon =DAnswer:
wow, how sad! what the heck happened to him?
hope it all goes well