Underutilization of the surgical treatment for epilepsy is a cause for serious concern now says Chennai doctor’s
Posted on: 09/Apr/2018 10:03:27 AM
The shocking news is in India more than 50 lakh people have been affected by Epilepsy. It must be noted that Epilepsy is a neurological condition affecting the brain and it results in seizures plus loss of awareness etc.
It is now said that 10 lakh people who are affected with Epilepsy are potential candidates for epilepsy surgery or ES. It is highly surprising that people who are operated are not more than 500 in a year. For the treatment of epilepsy, surgical interventions remain most underutilized options now.
These days there are many awareness campaigns regarding the epilepsy in many private as well as in government hospitals. These awareness campaigns have not made huge impact on the people with this neuro based health issue.
Epilepsy could affect both young as well as old is known. The reasons for this epilepsy in younger persons could be due to improper prenatal care. Lack of oxygen available to the infant during the delivery is cited as an example. Injuries to the brain plus trauma, infections could create epilepsy in adults.
A popular neurologist from Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, Dr. Meenakshi Sundaram expressed his thoughts regarding epilepsy and spoke about how people with epilepsy could opt through detailed evaluation and classification of seizures. He also highlighted the importance of a device called as ‘vagal nerve stimulator’ or respective surgery so that the epileptic focus could be removed.
The doctor later spoke about how the patients underutilize surgery as an option to treat epilepsy in them. Dr. Meenakshi Sundaram later threw light on the surgical procedure for treating epilepsy and he explained that operating wand adds accuracy and safety of the surgery. He explained about the operating microscope and spoke about how these would make many patients with epilepsy to opt for surgery.
Need to identify critical cases soon is very important. It is said that if the seizures are more than two in a month despite taking antiepileptic dugs then the condition of the patient is critical and great care must be provided.
It is revealed that illiteracy, ignorance plus misconceptions, costs, complexity involved etc are the reasons why many patients do not opt for the epilepsy surgery procedure.
Neurologist Dr. Satish Kumar expressed his thoughts and spoke about how surgical management of the difficult cases could be provided by treatment strategies like polytherapy for people with DRE.
He further stressed the importance of standardised non-invasive pre-surgical evaluation protocols and optimum utilization of the resources for invasive monitoring under the National Epilepsy Control Programme etc.
