Doctors in Huelva have successfully performed brain surgery on a fully conscious patient for the first time, allowing them to remove a tumour while continuously testing his ability to speak.
The operation at the Hospital Universitario Juan Ramon Jimenez marks a milestone for neurosurgery in the province and involved one of the most complex techniques used in the speciality.
Known as awake brain surgery, the procedure allows surgeons to operate on tumours located dangerously close to parts of the brain responsible for crucial functions such as language, movement, memory and cognition.
Rather than relying solely on scans to determine where these areas are, doctors can test the patient in real time while operating.
In this case, the patient had a low-grade glioma located in an area involved in understanding language, meaning conventional surgery carried a significant risk of neurological damage affecting his ability to communicate.
Doctors therefore decided to keep him awake and conscious throughout the operation.
He received light sedation and experienced no pain, according to the Andalucian regional health authorities.
While surgeons worked on his brain, the patient carried out a series of speaking tasks and tests with neuropsychologists.
His responses allowed the medical team to map the functional areas of his brain as the procedure progressed.
Surgeons could then distinguish tumour tissue from areas essential to language and other functions, allowing them to remove the cancerous tissue while avoiding critical parts of the brain.
The objective was not simply to remove the tumour, but to do so while preserving the patient’s quality of life and cognitive abilities.
Such procedures require extensive preparation before the patient enters the operating theatre.
Doctors assess the functional areas of the brain and identify abilities particularly important to the individual’s everyday life.
The patient’s emotional state and ability to cope with remaining conscious during brain surgery are also assessed, while doctors explain precisely what will happen and how they will need to cooperate during the operation.
Back to normal life after surgery
The patient underwent another neuropsychological assessment before leaving hospital and successfully passed all the tests.
After a short hospital stay, he was discharged without complications and is now living normally with his language and cognitive abilities preserved, according to the hospital.
Doctors said the operation had also significantly increased his survival prospects.
He will continue to undergo neuropsychological monitoring to ensure his language function remains intact.
His cancer treatment will now enter its next phase, involving chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The landmark operation required a large multidisciplinary team including neurosurgeons, neuroanaesthetists, neuropsychologists, neurophysiologists, neuroradiologists and specialist nursing staff.
The professionals involved had previously received specific training and experience at leading medical institutions elsewhere in Spain.
The hospital said the successful procedure demonstrates how collaboration between different medical specialities can make extremely complex brain surgery safer and more precise while minimising the risk of life-changing neurological damage.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
