On the day of surgery, approximately one hour before surgery and after preoperative preparation (shower, fasting, anti-thrombosis stockings ...) the patient is taken to the waiting area of the operating block where he will be welcomed by the staff: operating room nurses, anesthetists, neurosurgeons, technicians ...
He is prepared for anesthesia and then transferred to the operating room where he will be asleep for general anesthesia.
Surgical operations on the skull are generally performed in microsurgery (with the help of the operating microscope) or with the endoscope (transnasal surgery of the pituitary gland, endoventricular surgery and of the skull base), while operations on the spine consist of microdiscectomy (removal of Disc herniation with the help of the operating microscope), laminectomy or arthrodesis techniques (instrumentation for the correction and stabilization of the vertebrae).
Cranial operations are often performed with the help of neuronavigation (a system similar to a gps to orient oneself inside the skull).
Generally the awakening of the patient takes place in the operating room. You make one surveillance for a variable period (from 30 min to 2 hours generally) before being transferred to your room in department of neurosurgery, where he will be welcomed by the nursing and medical staff.
For almost all cranial operations or for operations on the spine with a higher risk of complications, the patient is transferred in the postoperative period to the ward. Intensive therapy, generally only for the postoperative night, but sometimes for a longer period of time. After the stop in the Intensive Care Unit, the patient returns to his room in the neurosurgery ward.
