Strategies for the Prevention of Complications in Brain Glioma Surgery

Abstract

Introduction: Brain glioma is the most common and lethal primary malignant intracranial tumor. Nonetheless, gross tumor resection remains the most successful treatment modality, which may prolong progression free survival of these patients. However, excessive surgery brings a danger of neurological, regional and systemic complications, which may be diminished/ avoided by better pre- and intra-operative care and by modern neurosurgical techniques. Aim: To analyze the incidence and type of peri- and post-operative complications in surgical brain glioma patients. Computing the results, advice on complication prevention was made. Methods: A single institution series of brain glioma patients operated on during a two-year period was analyzed. The incidence, type and time of complications were observed, as well as the patients’ gender and age, and the extent of tumor resection complications, dichotomized as peri- and post-operative variables, were correlated with investigated parameters to find out their possible association. Results: Transitory neurological deficit was the most common peri-operative complication. Seizures, meningitis, and permanent neurological deficit were commonly recorded among post operative complications. Conclusion: Patients’ gender and age, and the extent of tumor resection were not influential to the development of brain glioma complications. Aggressive surgery requires the avoidance of complications by cautious patient selection, multidisciplinary preoperative planning, and scrupulous neurosurgical technique augmented by up-to-date armamentarium.