An Awake Throughout Approach for Awake Craniotomy: A Perspective from a Resource-Limited Country

Abstract

Background: An awake throughout (AT) approach for awake craniotomy is mostly under utilized. The purpose of this study was to review the efficacy of the technique at our tertiary care center. The primary objective was to identify the incidence of perioperative complications. The secondary objective was to review the patients' satisfaction, satisfaction of surgical team, length of stay (LOS) in special care unit (SCU), and overall LOS in the hospital.

Methods: The study was a retrospective review of patients data. All patients were treated with the AT technique. This included preoperative assessment, psychologic preparation, and institution of scalp block. The incidence of perioperative complications, including satisfaction of surgical team was noted. The patients' satisfaction and the LOS in SCU and in the hospital was also recorded.

Results: In total, the data from 55 patients were reviewed. Their mean age was 41 years, and 63% were reported to have seizures at presentation. The AT approach was successful in 100% of cases. The incidence of intraoperative seizures was 7.4%, of vomiting was 5.4%, and of conversion to general anesthesia was 0%. The surgical team was able to perform gross total resection in 53% of patients and rated a satisfaction score of 8 out of 10. Postoperative seizures occurred in 5.4% of patients and vomiting in 3.6%. The mean LOS in SCU was 1.2 days, and the overall hospital LOS was 4 days. The patients remained fully satisfied, as evidenced by a mean satisfaction score of 8.6.

Conclusion: An AT approach might be very useful in resource-limited setups because of the low incidence of complications, the use of resources, and significant surgeon and patient satisfaction.

Keywords: Anesthesia; Brain tumor; Craniotomy; Wakefulness.