With traditional open skull surgery, patients can expect to spend up to two week sin the hospital and months convalescing at home.  Non-invasive Gamma Knife® surgery is completed in a matter of hours.  Patients generally go home with 24 hours and resume normal activities within a few days.

Leksell Gamma Knife® is not really a knife at all; rather, it consists of very precisely focused beams of radiation that are directed to the treatment area in the brain.  There is no incision, no blood and virtually no pain.

The Gamma Knife Perfexion? precisely focuses 192 beams of gamma radiation on a specific target area of the brain, with each beam originating from a slightly different point. Highly sophisticated computer software is used to determine the size, location and shape of the area to be treated. Only at the point where all 192 beams cross is enough radiation delivered to affect the diseased tissue, while sparing surrounding tissue.

Cost studies have shown Gamma Knife radiosurgery to be less expensive than conventional neurosurgery because it eliminates lengthy post-surgical hospital stays, expensive medication and potentially months of rehabilitation. Importantly, there are virtually no post-surgical disability and convalescent costs with this procedure.

It is precise. Its effects on surrounding brain and other critical neural and vascular structures are minimized. It is safe - the design of the Department of Neurosurgery's Gamma Knife unit meets the rigorous standards for safety and efficacy set by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory commission and patients do not face the risks associated with open-skull procedures or general anesthesia. The Gamma Knife Perfexion is also highly effective - its success rate is unprecedented.

Facial plastic surgeons use lasers on a routine basis. They use the laser as a "light scalpel." The tissue is left sterile and bleeding is greatly reduced. As in the example above, when the laser is used to treat port-wine stains, no cuts are made. The laser energy penetrates through the skin to shrink the abnormal blood vessels that are the cause of these marks. In this application the laser surgery can be performed without a traditional incision.

Gamma Knife surgery is different from conventional radiation therapy of the brain because it is only directed to the target and spares unnecessary treatment of adjacent, normal brain. It differs because only a one day treatment is required rather than many treatments over several weeks and can be repeated if needed. It can be used in conjunction with conventional surgery as a boost and can be used in previously inoperable cases.

The patient may feel a stinging sensation when the surgeon administers the local anesthetic to the pin sites. They also may feel a temporary pressure when the head frame is affixed. While being treated, the patient does not feel any of the treatment procedure.

This noninvasive technology treats patients with abnormalities that are located within the brain or that are too close to delicate structures and blood vessels (though it is most effective on targets less than four centimeters in size). Almost a third of all the patients treated with the Gamma Knife since 1968 have sought relief from blood vessel problems (i.e. AVMs). Nearly two-thirds were treated for brain tumors, including cancer, glial tumors and rarer types of tumors.

The individual beams of gamma radiation are not strong enough to damage any tissue as they travel through the skull to the treatment site. At the site, the beams join together pecisely to act in the same way a surgical "knife" would to treat the abnormality.

Because Gamma Knife radiosurgery requires no incisions and no general anesthesia, the risks of complications, infection or other side effects are greatly reduced if not eliminated altogether. As an outpatient procedure for trigeminal neuralgia, the patient can in most cases, return home by dinner the same day of surgery and resume normal activity. For many tumors and tremors, the actual procedure takes less than 3-4 hours from the time the head frame is affixed to 'frame off'.

Non-invasive surgery exposes patients to the least amount of risk. After Gamma Knife® surgery, some patients may experience a mild headache or slight swelling where the frame was attached, but most report no problems. Patients generally go home within 24 hours and resume normal activities within a few days.

After administering local anesthesia and intravenous sedation, a stereotactic frame is attached to the patient's head. Next the head is imaged using a CT or MRI scanner while the patient wears the stereotactic frame. For vascular malformations, an angiogram is obtained as well. A treatment plan is developed by computer using the brain images. This is done by the coordinated efforts of the neurosurgeon, radiation oncologist and radiation physicist.

Patients may experience side effects, but they are often very mild. Headache, dizziness, or nausea may be experienced immediately after the treatment, but the effects generally disappear soon after the procedure. Brain swelling or seizures can often be treated effectively with medication.

The Gamma Knife’s success rate is impressive. Supported by more than two decades of clinical research, this neurosurgical tool has met with unprecedented results. Clinical applications continue to grow, and its many benefits as a non-invasive treatment modality continue to make it the treatment of choice for certain clinical conditions. Clinical abstracts are provided for additional information.

First, a lightweight frame is attached to the patient’s head. Local anesthesia is used before the frame is secured in place. The patient then has an MRI imaging study or, in the case of an arteriovenous malformation, angiography,may be needed in order to precisely locate the diseased area. Data from the imaging study is transferred into the treatment planning computer.

Patients typically feel slight discomfort from the local anesthetic used prior to head frame placement, and have reported feeling pressure for a short time while the pins are inserted to fixate the head frame -- but no pain. The patient does not see or feel the radiation during treatment.

The Gamma Knife allows non-invasive brain surgery to be performed with extreme precision while sparing healthy tissues surrounding the targeted treatment area. Also, because neither a surgical incision nor general anesthesia is required, the risks usually involved with open brain surgery, such as hemorrhage or infection, may be reduced. Hospitalization is rarely required and recovery time is minimal.

Benign intracranial tumors, including acoustic neuromas, meningiomas, pituitary adenomas, craniopharyngiomas, pineal tumors and hemangioblastomas.

On the day of treatment, the patient will have a lightweight frame attached to the head. Local anesthesia is used before the frame is secured in place. The frame is used in conjunction with an imaging procedure to accurately locate the diseased area. With the frame in place, the patient either has an MRI or CT imaging study or, in the case of an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), angiography, in order to precisely locate the diseased area to be treated.