Neurosurgical Anesthesia

UI anesthesia residents gain experience in the management of a large variety of neurosurgical cases. The Neurosurgical Anesthesia Division performs more than 2,100 anesthetics per year. The level of complexity ranges from the simplest lumbar laminectomy to the most complex intracranial vascular or craniovertebral/skull base procedure. These procedures may be elective or emergent.

Common neurosurgical procedures at the UI Hospitals & Clinics include:

• Supra- and infratentorial craniotomy for tumor resection
• Vascular malformations and aneurysms
• Cranioplasty
• Trans-oral resection of the odontoid process
• Spinal fusion surgery
  • Cervical
  • Thoracic
  • Lumbar
• Deep brain, peripheral nerve, and spinal cord stimulator implantation
• Minimally invasive and endoscopic procedures
• Burr holes
• Clot evacuation procedures
• Neuro-interventional procedures

Our neurosurgeons also perform a large number of procedures in children, including:

• Posterior fossa procedures
• Surgery for craniosynostosis
• Tethered cord repair
• Meningomyelocele repair
• Ventriculoperitoneal shunts

Residents on this rotation gain valuable experience performing awake and asleep fiberoptic-assisted intubation. Residents also learn to manage anesthesia in combination with specialized monitoring modalities such as processed EEG and somatosensory evoked responses.