KOTA KINABALU: Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) II in collaboration with Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) has successfully performed brain surgery on a fully conscious patient for the first time.
State Health Director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin said the six-hour “awake craniotomy” surgery was conducted on Jan 12, at QEH II.
The patient is a 50-year-old woman who has been experiencing headache symptoms since October 2022 and was later diagnosed with multiple meningiomas (primary central nervous system (CNS) tumour) on the left side of the brain by doctors at the Duchess of Kent Hospital, Sandakan.
"In an awake craniotomy brain surgery, the patient is conscious throughout the operation," she said in a statement, Sunday.
"The surgeon will constantly monitor the brain's level of consciousness and activity from time to time throughout the operation."
In addition, she said, the conscious sedation technique used in the awake craniotomy surgery was also the first to be done in Sabah.
During the operation, the patient was able to spell her name and sing a simple song.
"After the surgery, the patient only experienced a slight headache and was allowed to drink water and eat soft food the next day," she said.
Awake craniotomy brain surgery was introduced in the early 2000s.
In Malaysia, it started as early as 2010 at Universiti Sains Malaysia Hospital, Kuala Lumpur Hospital, Sungai Buloh Hospital and Sultanah Aminah Hospital.