“Can you regain movement after brain surgery?”
I will have brain surgery. Can you regain movement after the brain surgery?
3 Answers
Dr. Ivan Edwards
Physiatrist (Physical Medicine) | Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
San Antonio, TX, TX
Most certainly, yes--and this depends largely on the extent of surgery.
Recovery of motor movements after a brain surgery are dependent on what your diagnosis is.
For example, a stroke in the MCA region of the brain, a center that controls motor functions of the opposite side effected, can have some form of recovery if an acute thrombus is the cause and is removed as soon as possible, however, embolus strokes/ pressure related strokes/ and chronic strokes in this region will not demonstrate the same results.
An acute subdural hematoma that is evacuated before full loss of function can also result in some motor recovery, but if not evacuated quickly (within 24h after onset of pressure) can result in permanent loss of function.
Brain tumors also produce marginal results. A brain mass on the motor cortex does not garuntee recovery of function after removal and peri operative concerns such as stroke/seizures/ and bleeding in the tumor bed can all pose as further problems for recovery.
Your surgeon should be going through these possible outcomes with you prior to surgery.
Overall, no matter your diagnosis, medicine only attempts to fix the structural problem in these cases and should be followed by extensive physical and occupational therapy regimens for which each patient post op is responsible for. The depth of recovery, should the diagnosis be one that can result in improvement (given no complications arise) truly lies in the follow up care that each patient engages in.
Thank you for your question
For example, a stroke in the MCA region of the brain, a center that controls motor functions of the opposite side effected, can have some form of recovery if an acute thrombus is the cause and is removed as soon as possible, however, embolus strokes/ pressure related strokes/ and chronic strokes in this region will not demonstrate the same results.
An acute subdural hematoma that is evacuated before full loss of function can also result in some motor recovery, but if not evacuated quickly (within 24h after onset of pressure) can result in permanent loss of function.
Brain tumors also produce marginal results. A brain mass on the motor cortex does not garuntee recovery of function after removal and peri operative concerns such as stroke/seizures/ and bleeding in the tumor bed can all pose as further problems for recovery.
Your surgeon should be going through these possible outcomes with you prior to surgery.
Overall, no matter your diagnosis, medicine only attempts to fix the structural problem in these cases and should be followed by extensive physical and occupational therapy regimens for which each patient post op is responsible for. The depth of recovery, should the diagnosis be one that can result in improvement (given no complications arise) truly lies in the follow up care that each patient engages in.
Thank you for your question
This is a too general question. The regain of post operative motor function is based on 1. the primary pathology for which the surgery is performed and/or surgical trauma per se affecting the central motor cortex and/or motor nerve conduction system and 2. the reversibility of any prior or surgical trauma damage to the neural structure. The predictivity of motor recovery after brain injury therefore rely on the individual case analysis.
