Neurosurgery (or Neurological Surgery) is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves and extra-cranial cerebrovascular system.
Conditions
conditions treated by neurosurgeons include:
Meningitis and other central nervous system infections including abscesses
Spinal disc herniation
Cervical spinal stenosis and Lumbar spinal stenosis
Hydrocephalus
Head trauma (brain hemorrhages, skull fractures etc.)
Spinal cord trauma
Traumatic injuries of peripheral nerves
Tumors of the spine, spinal cord and peripheral nerves
Intracerebral hemorrhage such as subarachnoid hemorrhage, interdepartmental and intracellular hemorrhages
Some forms of drug-resistant epilepsy
Some forms of movement disorders (advanced Parkinson's disease, chorea) – this involves the use of specially developed minimally invasive stereotactic techniques (functional, stereotactic neurosurgery) such as ablative surgery anddeep brain stimulation surgery
Intractable pain of cancer or trauma patients and cranial/peripheral nerve pain
Some forms of intractable psychiatric disorders
Vascular malformations (i.e. arteriovenous malformations, venous angiomas, cavernous angiomas, capillary telangectasias) of the brain and spinal cord