Key technique introduced at KFSH in Dammam

The Neuroscience Center at King Fahd Specialist Hospital in Dammam recently implemented the intra-operative neurophysiological monitoring technology while performing a spinal cord tumor surgery.
Husam Al-Habib, consultant neurosurgeon, said that intra-operative neurophysiological monitoring was a new technology that was recently implemented at the hospital while performing complex spinal cord tumor surgeries on two patients. The technique helped in avoiding complications such as paralysis.
Al-Habib said that the first surgery involved a 40-year-old patient who complained of weakness in his four limbs. Medical examinations revealed that he had spinal cord tumor in four cervical vertebrae, a serious medical condition that requires immediate surgical intervention and opening of the spinal cord to remove the tumor.
The surgery is considered high-risk and can result in severe complications such as quadriplegia and make the patient ventilator-dependent.
Al-Habib said the second surgery involved a 31-year-old patient who also complained of severe weakness in his feet, besides suffering from urine retention. Medical examinations showed that he, too, had a tumor in his spinal cord.
Al-Habib said the tumor was removed and the patient was spared from permanent paralysis in his lower limbs. The patient also showed marked sphinctor improvement.
The intra-operative neurophysiological monitoring technique involves usage of electro-physiological methods such as electro-encephalography (EEG), electro-myography (EMG) and evoked potentials to monitor the functional integrity of certain neural structures like nerves, the spinal cord and parts of the brain during surgery.
The purpose of the technique is to reduce the risk of iatrogenic damage to the nervous system, including paralysis, and to provide functional guidance to the surgeon and anesthesiologist during surgery.