Second surgery for glioma

After a glioma attacks, the patient must undergo surgical treatment. Other treatments cannot cure it, and some patients may need a second operation. One operation alone cannot cure it. Only after complete resection can it be effectively relieved. In addition, you must check that your body meets the criteria for surgery before you can have surgery.

Surgery is often the first step in treating gliomas. Surgery can not only provide a final pathological diagnosis, but also quickly remove most of the tumor cells, relieve the patient's symptoms, and facilitate other treatments in the next step. For some low-grade gliomas, such as pilocytic astrocytomas, complete surgical resection can result in radical cure and long-term survival for patients. Current glioma surgery has entered an era of minimally invasive surgery, which is safer, less traumatic, and more complete in tumor removal than before.

The use of microscopes in the removal of brain gliomas can more clearly identify the boundary between the tumor and brain tissue, as well as important surrounding structures such as nerves and blood vessels, thereby maximizing the removal of gliomas while being safe. The application of neuronavigation has brought the surgical resection of gliomas to a new level. Neuronavigation is similar to car navigation, which allows surgeons to be more precise and detailed in terms of incision design before surgery, identification of functional brain areas during surgery, and selection of surgical resection methods.

The intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging that has emerged in recent years can further improve the completeness of surgical resection and reduce the occurrence of complications such as postoperative functional defects in patients. The use of intraoperative cortical stimulation electrodes can improve the identification of motor and language areas during surgery, thereby helping surgeons better protect important brain functions.

Specific treatment requires comprehensive consideration of multiple factors, including the patient's functional status, expected results of treatment, the location of the tumor in the brain, the degree of malignancy, etc., so as to develop an individualized comprehensive treatment plan.

For example, optic nerve gliomas can cause vision loss in patients; spinal cord gliomas can cause patients to have symptoms such as limb pain, numbness, and weakness; central area gliomas can cause movement and sensory disorders in patients; and language area gliomas can cause patients to have difficulty in language expression and understanding. Gliomas produce symptoms at different speeds depending on their degree of malignancy.