Patient's question:
My cousin moved in with us after completing her associate degree. Recently, she has been working very hard at her training institution, often working long hours. Suddenly, the institution notified me that she had a seizure at work, with symptoms like foaming at the mouth. After I went to pick her up, I took her to the hospital. After a thorough examination, they diagnosed her with epilepsy. We had never known she had this condition before. Now, we are considering surgical treatment, but we don’t know what types of surgeries are available.Doctor's answer:
The surgical treatment for epilepsy primarily involves brain surgery; it generally includes craniotomy and stereotactic surgery. It is particularly effective for clearly identified seizure foci and drug-resistant epilepsy.Physical treatment includes corpus callosotomy and vagus nerve stimulation. It is specialized in treating refractory partial epilepsy in adolescents, which is a form of adjunctive treatment.
Stereotactic radiotherapy, such as gamma knife, X-knife, and proton knife, is also used. It is effective for refractory epilepsy, especially when the seizure focus is located in deep or functional areas.
Epilepsy is a condition that is difficult to recover from. Patients should always maintain a positive attitude and face it with optimism. Only by doing so can they strengthen their confidence in combating epilepsy and believe that recovery is possible.