title: Awake craniotomy: a practice overview.
abstract: Craniotomies are a common neurological intervention for intracranial tumor resections. Anesthesia techniques allow surgeons to aggressively and optimally resect neoplastic tissue while sparing normal cerebral tissue. Awake craniotomies are surgical techniques that enable surgeons to avoid damaging normal cerebral regions and allow real-time patient feedback. Such surgical interventions would not be possible without anesthesia. The role of anesthesia providers is critical in gaining the trust and motivation of the patient. Preoperative evaluation, regional anesthesia, general anesthesia, and monitored anesthesia are necessary to achieve a successful surgical intervention with awake craniotomy. As awake craniotomy gains more popularity, dependable anesthesia techniques remain critical. A discussion follows of the role of anesthesia providers in awake craniotomy during the entire perioperative continuum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, USA. gbrydges@mdanderson.org
authors.forename: Garry
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Brydges
authors.forename: Roxanne
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Atkinson
authors.forename: Monie James
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Perry
authors.forename: Darline
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hurst
authors.forename: Travis
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Laqua
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wiemers
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia / Q000379:methods*; D001921:Brain / Q000601:surgery*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D003399:Craniotomy / Q000379:methods*; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing; D006801:Humans; D009719:Nurse Anesthetists; D014851:Wakefulness