Ten-year-old plays game during brain surgery to remove tumour

The Class 5 student from Puducherry, who is also a Bharatanatyam dancer, had been suffering from fits and headaches for over two months. As medicines were not offering her relief, an MRI scan was done, which revealed that she had a tumour exactly in the motor cortex – a strip of brain area which controls the entire movement of the opposite side of the body.

Dr Roopesh Kumar, a neurosurgeon at SIMS Hospital, where she was treated, said, “When she was brought here, she did not have any neurological deficit. As the tumour was located in a risky part of the brain, we had to perform the awake craniotomy – wherein she would have to be awake while the tumour was being removed, so that the body could be inspected frequently. The surgery was done ten days ago.”

While the procedure is performed only in one per cent of patients with brain tumour, it helps guide the surgeon to preserve the important nerves to the hand, leg and face, while the tumour is removed, gradually. “If any decrease in the movement of the leg or hand is noticed, that portion of the tumour can be left behind, removing the rest of the tumour,” said Dr Suresh Bapu, Director, Institute of Neurosciences, at the hospital.

“We had requested her uncle, who is also a doctor in Puducherry, to keep her distracted and encourage her. She was quite cooperative. As she loves mobile games, we gave her the phone to divert her attention,” Bapu said, adding, “She drank water in the operation theatre itself, which is not done usually. We discharged her in 48 hours and she was back in school on Monday.”