CRANIOTOMY

Course overview

A CRANIOTOMY IS A SURGICAL PROCEDURE IN WHICH A PART OF THE SKULL IS TEMPORARILY REMOVED TO EXPOSE THE BRAIN AND PERFORM AN INTRACRANIAL PROCEDURE. THE CRANIOTOMY APPROACH HAS EVOLVED OVER TIME. TREPHINATION HAS BEEN FOUND TO BE PERFORMED BY PREHISTORIC MEN EITHER FOR MAGIC OR RELIGIOUS RITUALS TO RELEASE DEMONS AND MALIGNANT SPIRITS OR TO WEAR THEM AS AMULETS AS EARLY AS 1783. THE PRINCIPLE OF BOW DRILLING WAS OBTAINED FROM THAT OF FIRE-MAKING AND WAS USED BY THE EGYPTIANS IN 1400 YEARS BC. THE APPROACH TO CRANIOTOMY HAS BEEN PRESUMED TO BE WRITTEN BY IMHOTEP AROUND 2900 BCE. THE THERAPEUTIC USAGE OF CRANIOTOMY FOR MANAGING FRACTURES WAS UNDERTAKEN IN THE 5 CENTURY BC BY HIPPOCRATES. THE INSTRUMENTS WERE DETAILED AS EARLY AS 1518 IN “DE FRACTURA CALVAE” BY BERENGARIO. CRANIOTOMY EVOLVED IN THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD (FIREARMS AND GRENADES) IN THE 16TH AND 17TH CENTURIES. ADVANCEMENT IN ANTISEPSIS AND GENERAL ANESTHESIA IN THE 19TH CENTURY LED TO THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH OF TREPHINING AND CRANIOTOMY. THIS ACTIVITY DESCRIBES THE CRANIOTOMY PROCEDURE AND HIGHLIGHTS THE ROLE OF THE INTERPROFESSIONAL TEAM IN MANAGING AND IMPROVING CARE FOR PATIENTS WHO UNDERGO CRANIOTOMY.