A Gwalior girl underwent a major brain surgery while fully conscious. Nine-year-old Soumya kept playing a synthesiser while undergoing the operation at Birla Institute of Medical Research.
She was brought to the hospital by her parents with a tumour in her brain. However, doctors said the operation was risky and there were chances of damage to other nerves of her brain if it was performed in an unconscious state.
Therefore, they decided to go for the “awake craniotomy” method.
Awake craniotomy is a neurosurgical technique and a type of craniotomy that allows a surgeon to remove a brain tumour while the patient remains awake, to avoid brain damage.
When the doctors learnt she liked playing the piano, they asked her to play the synthesiser while undergoing the surgery. Local anaesthesia was injected only to that part of her head where the surgery was required.
Soumya was also handed over a mic to sing while doctors were performing the surgery.
Senior neurosurgeon Dr Abhishek Chauhan and senior anaesthesia specialist Dr Vinod Sengar headed a team of medical specialists to perform the risky operation.
The surgery lasted for about two hours and the tumour was successfully removed.
The young girl was kept under observation for some time before being discharged on the evening of December 12.
