Welcome to the Awake Brain Surgery Service / Awake Craniotomy Program of The Canberra Hospital
Our Awake Craniotomy Program was launched on April 26, 2007. It was primarily developed to enhance neurosurgical safety, giving patients enrolled into the Program (often those with more dangerous brain conditions) the best possible outcome opportunity. Dr Khurana's team has successfully carried out awake brain surgery on many patients at The Canberra Hospital for conditions as diverse as brain tumours, cavernous malformations, certain brain aneurysms, and arteriovenous malformations located in highly "eloquent" brain regions (i.e., those regions of the brain housing very important functions such as language, face and limb movement, and vision). As a testimony to the expertise of the many people involved and the technologies we use, our Awake Brain Surgery Program has a clinical and radiological success rate of 95% and patients enrolled into the Program have provided very positive feedback about their comfort and outcomes. Ours is the first formal awake craniotomy Program in the Australia/New Zealand region specifically initiated for patients with advanced brain tumours and cerebral blood vessel abnormalities. Click on the In The Media tab above for some coverage related to the work we do.
Photographed above (2008) - Some Members of the Awake Craniotomy Team at the Canberra Hospital. From Left to Right, Dr Ali Ghahreman (Neurosurgery) Mr Sankar Manchella (ANU Medical School), Ms Vicki Gardiner (Neurosurgery Office), Dr David Duke (Anaesthetics), Ms Georgia Donoghue (Anaesthetics Nursing), Mr Darren Woodruff (Medtronic), Ms Rhonda Hosking (Surgical Nursing), Ms Rhona Jason-Smith (Surgical Nursing Executive), Ms Kerri Reeves (Surgical Nursing), Dr Kevin Seow (Neurosurgery), Dr Nicholas Melhuish (Anaesthetics), Dr Nadana Chandran (Neurosurgery), Dr Ali Hameid (Neurosurgery), Ms Dianne Lane (Radiology), Ms Tania Lawrence (Neurosurgery Nursing), Dr Vini Khurana (Team Leader; Neurosurgery). [Absent: Dr James French, Dr Simon Robertson & Professor Thomas Brussel (Anaesthetics), Dr Vlad Milovic (Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery), Mr Matt Daniel (Neurosurgery Nursing), Mr Nathan Lloyd (Surgical Services) and Mr Andrew Cameron (Leica Microsystems)].
Please note that the photographs on the following "awake crani" pages were the kind gifts of Jaime Valenzuela, Jeremy Rozdarz and Jessica Salvage. The radiological images were kindly provided by The Canberra Hospital's Department of Radiology. The team thanks the representatives of Medtronic, Transonic, Leica Microsystems, Taylor-Bryant, Anspach and Synthes for their exceptional technology and dedicated support.
