Gamma Knife, as people might think, is not an actual surgery. In fact, it is a radiation
treatment that employs a very highly focused beam of radiation and due to its precision,
hence it was called knife. The treatment can be usually one,
or more than one treatment, but in the majority of cases it's a one-off treatment therapy
and the treatment is done using a specific machine after having acquired targeting imaging for the
brain and the lesion and the treatment time can be varied depending on what we are treating.
Treatment has now become one of the primary treatment options for a lot of neurosurgical,
indications including tumours; benign tumours such as vestibular schwannoma, other tumours
like malignant tumours, some vascular conditions of the brain like arteriovenous malformations,
and also for certain pain conditions like trigeminal neuralgia.
Gamma Knife treatment, compared to other treatment options most notably are surgereis,
is considered relatively safe. This is due to the fact that it is multi-disciplinary,
it's teamwork or a team effort to deliver the treatment, and it's
backed by quality assurance and quality checks all through the way of the patient treatment.
There can be some risks, however these risks are kept to a minimal and it can be variable.
But again, these risks are considered to be very small compared to surgical treatment.
It
is employed for treating a variety of neurosurgical conditions; including benign and
malignant tumours, certain muscular conditions of the brain like arteriovenous malformations,
and also certain pain conditions of the brain like trigeminal neuralgia.
These, by far, represent the majority of the indications for Gamma Knife
and there are conditions that used to be primarily treated with surgery before. But Gamma
Knife treatment has proven itself to be a safer treatment and less invasive for all the patients.
The Gamma Knife treatment is very effective in controlling the tumour
growth in the majority of the tumours, including benign and malignant tumours,
the safety profile of Gamma Knife has been tested thoroughly and despite being some risk of
complications it is regarded as the least invasive form of treatment, and one of the risks is
associated Edema or swelling in the area next to the target that's being treated, but these risks
can be mitigated with certain medication like steroids, if they do occur, usually for a short
period. Some patients who, for instance, may have epilepsy or seizures, with successful treatment
there has been reports that their epilepsy would actually reduce the risk of epilepsy,
reduce the risk of further seizures, and possibly manage to reduce their medication as well.