Doctors using bedside treatment for brain injuries

To view our videos, you need to enable JavaScript. Learn how. install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now. Then come back here and refresh the page.

Tom Barber had a brain injury when he slipped and fell on ice and landed on the side of his head.

"He started with the excruciating headaches and the nausea and the vomiting," Chick Barber, Tom's wife, said.

When Barber fell, it caused his brain to bleed. Doctors decided to wait and see, hoping that the blood would dissipate. But a few weeks later at a check up, it was obvious he was in trouble.

"The nurse said, 'Your birthday, Mr. Barber,' and he had slurred speech," Chick Barber said.

The blood began to spread, placing more pressure on his brain. He needed surgery, but because he had a heart condition and was on blood thinners, he was not a candidate for the traditional, risky, open cranial brain surgery. But thankfully there was another option.

"It's something new," said Dr. Julie Pilitsis. "We can take out this blood at the bedside rather than going to the operating room."

It's called a bedside burr-hole subdural drainage, or in less technical terms, bedside brain surgery. It's done with the patient awake, no operating room, no anesthesia and less risk for patients like Tom.

"The actual opening we make in the bone is about the size of a pencil eraser," Dr. Tyler Kenning said. "It's pretty small and there is a candela screw that goes into the bone. It's hooked up to a drainage catheter with a suction bulb, and it sits at the bedside with them and attached anywhere from 24 to 48 hours."

In just one day, Chick Barber said her husband was already talking more clearly.

Follow this link:
Doctors using bedside treatment for brain injuries