Last month, professional guitarist Christian Nolen brought his stage show to the operating room, where he performed Deftones songs for the doctors while they operated to remove a brain tumor.
Nolen’s performance served more purposes than merely amusement; during the risky procedure, his guitar playing guided the brain doctors. During the “awake” part of his two-hour operation in December, Nolen played the guitar, which allowed the doctors to remove as much of the tumor as possible without damaging his manual dexterity.
According to brain and brain tumor neurosurgeon Dr. Ricardo Komotar, who oversaw the team at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center in Miami, the surgical team was removing a brain tumor known as a glioma in the right frontal lobe of Nolen’s brain, close to the region that regulates left-handed movement.
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According to a news release from Komotar, “We planned going into the surgery that he would be awake and playing the guitar while we were taking out the tumor.” “He would be examined to make sure we weren’t damaging the area that controls hand movement, and his playing of the guitar would be used to test hand movement.”
Although brain surgeons don’t frequently utilize musical ability as a test during an operation, he stated that his cancer center performs these kinds of awake surgeries multiple times a week. During the invasive portion of the procedure, the patient is first put to sleep, and the scalp is numbed with regional anesthetic, according to Dr. Arman Dagal, chief of neuroanesthesiology and perioperative neurosciences.
Nolen was placed in a proper position for the neurosurgeon to access the area where the brain tumor was located, and then woke up when the operation reached a delicate stage that could have harmed his motor skills. “When we’re ready, in the critical portion of the surgery, when we need them to communicate with us, we wake the patient up and take out the breathing tube. They slowly get oriented to where they are,” Dagal said in a news release.
That’s when Nolen was given a guitar and asked to play. He chose Deftones songs for his playlist. In addition to helping neurosurgeons limit harm while removing a brain tumor, awake brain surgery provides other benefits for patients, the doctors said.
brain tumor
“It’s shown to improve outcomes in terms of lower complication rates. Also, patients stay in the hospital for a shorter period of time, and they require less-invasive postoperative monitoring because when they go to the ICU, they’re fully awake and we can communicate with them,” Dagal said. “These are all benefits of having less anesthesia and being awake. There’s less chance of nausea and vomiting and greater early mobilization.” Nolen continues to undergo cancer treatment, but he has resumed playing the guitar for fun, doctors said.
brain tumor
Why do people play guitar during brain surgery?
An Indian musician was treated for involuntary muscular spasms in his fingers by the doctors while he was on the operation table, playing the guitar. Every time physicians “burned” a circuit in Abhishek Prasad’s brain to treat what is usually called “musician’s dystonia,” they insisted that he perform.
What instrument is used for brain tumor surgery?
An endoscope might also be used by your surgeon. An endoscope is a long tube equipped with an eyepiece and a camera. To operate surgical instruments and remove the tumor, they employ the endoscope.
Who is the person playing the instrument during brain surgery?
Soon after the procedure, Ms. Turner rejoined the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra. To help ensure that the regions of the brain that regulate fine hand movement and coordination were not damaged during the procedure, she played the violin while the tumour was removed.
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