What Neurosurgeons Treat: A Description of a Medical Specialty

Neurosurgery is a medical industry dedicated to the treatment and diagnosis of diseases of the spinal cord, brain, spine and peripheral nerves. A neurosurgeon physician is a specialist whose scope of activity includes the detection and therapy of disorders of the nervous system. What is the treatment for neurosurgeons? A more detailed answer to this question you will learn from this article.

What diseases are treated by a neurosurgeon?

The working areas of a neurosurgeon doctor can be called a skull, a head and spinal cord, and a vertebral column. Therefore, it is obvious that neurosurgeons are treated by various pathologies affecting the nervous system of patients.

The tasks of a neurosurgeon physician include surgical treatment of the following pathologies:

• Benign and malignant neoplasms in the skull, including in its base (hemangioblastomas, astrocytomas, pituitary adenomas, abscesses, neurinomas, etc.);
• All types of brain and skull injuries;
• Congenital or acquired disorders of brain and skull development;
• Trauma to the spine, for example, its fractures;
• Disorders of blood circulation of the brain;
• Diseases of peripheral nerves (traumatic injuries, etc.).

Where do they teach neurosurgeons?

In order to become a neurosurgeon, you need to graduate from the medical university with a degree in "Medicine". However, after receiving the diploma, the doctor is not yet becoming a neurosurgeon: additional training is required, that is, an internship. Only after passing all the necessary examinations, a specialist is assigned a qualification.

It is quite difficult to study in an internship, because a neurosurgeon who treats various diseases of the nervous system must be well versed in many areas of modern medicine, proficient in English, have clinical thinking and have a "firm hand" because the patient's life depends on any careless movement. A neurosurgeon that heals a patient must be completely sure of his actions.

Requirements for the personality of a neurosurgeon

Do not think that neurosurgery can be practiced by anyone who graduated from a medical university. In this profession, such personal qualities as self-confidence, accuracy, psychological stability are extremely important.

Neurosurgical operations are considered to be one of the most difficult: the operating field often has small dimensions, many actions are performed under a microscope. In addition, the specialist should understand not only the anatomy of the nervous system, but also in the equipment with which today most of the above operations are performed. After all, a neurosurgeon is a doctor who treats patients with special equipment, which is not easy to work with.

When is it necessary to contact a neurosurgeon?

The main symptoms that indicate that there is a need to make an appointment with a neurosurgeon include:

1. Numbness of fingers, pain in the hand, dizziness and sharp, unreasonable changes in blood pressure.
2. Nausea, noise in the ears, headaches and difficulties with the perception of new information that have arisen after a head injury.
3. Frequent headaches, the cause of which can not be established.
4. Disturbances of sensitivity and limb movements.
5. The pathology of the brain or spine found during MRI.

Knowing that neurosurgeons are being treated, you can call the doctor in time and avoid the development of the pathological process.

What kinds of diagnostic procedures are performed by a neurosurgeon?

We told you that neurosurgeons are being treated. However, the tasks of this specialist include not only therapy, but also the detection of pathological processes. So, the neurosurgeon can carry out the following diagnostic measures:

• Lumbar puncture (to determine intracranial pressure);
• Computed tomography (to identify tumors, brain displacements, hydrocephalus, etc.);
• Magnetic resonance imaging, which allows you to obtain images of neural structures with very high resolution. Thanks to MRI, you can see the slightest pathological changes in the brain and spinal cord;
• Echoencephalography, that is, the mapping of ultrasound waves that are reflected from the area under study. EEG is assigned to detect hematomas and hemorrhages, as well as hydrocephalus. It can be carried out directly at the bedside of the patient, therefore this procedure is quite in demand in neurosurgical practice;
• Positron emission tomography for detection of neoplasms, as well as diagnosis of epilepsy and strokes;
• Angiography, which allows to study pathological processes affecting the vessels of the brain.

Imagining what the neurosurgeon treats for adults and children is easy to understand - this profession requires considerable knowledge, the highest qualifications and, of course, the desire to help people. By the way, if there is no last factor, then it is better to refuse to work as a doctor.