About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
What you can expect
By Mayo Clinic staff
During the procedure
To avoid infection, your hair will need to be clipped short over the section of your skull that will be removed during the operation. Many times the neurosurgical team will be able to shave that area in such a way that other parts of your hair will cover up the bald patch after the surgery. Some people want their entire head shaved.
You will have an intravenous access in place, and your heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels will be monitored throughout the surgery. An EEG monitor also may be recording your brain waves during the operation to better localize the part of your brain where your seizures start.
Epilepsy surgery is usually performed during general anesthesia. That means you'll be unconscious during the procedure, which involves making a small opening in your skull to access the brain. In rare circumstances, your surgeon may wake you up during part of the operation to help the team determine which parts of your brain control language and movement. After surgery the window of bone is replaced and fastened to the remaining skull for healing. Most epilepsy surgeries take at least four hours.
After the procedure
You'll be in a special recovery area to be monitored carefully as you awaken after the anesthesia. You may need to spend the first night after surgery in an intensive care unit. The total hospital stay for most epilepsy surgeries is usually about three or four days.
When you awaken, your head will be swollen and painful. Most people need narcotics for the pain for at least the first few days. An ice pack on your head also may help. Most postoperative swelling and pain resolve within several weeks.
You'll probably not be able to return to work or school for approximately three months. You should rest and relax the first few weeks after epilepsy surgery and then gradually escalate your activity.
It's unlikely that you would need any rehabilitation as long as the surgery was completed without complications. Complications — such as stroke, paralysis or loss of speech — occur in about 1 percent of temporal lobe resections — the most common variety of epilepsy surgery.
- Smith ML, et al. Functional neurosurgery. In: Brunicardi FC, et al. Schwartz's Principles of Surgery. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill; 2010. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=5021050. Accessed March 7, 2010.
- Epilepsy and other seizure disorders. In: Ropper AH, et al. Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3632508&searchStr=epilepsy+surgery. Accessed March 7, 2010.
- Special techniques for neurologic diagnosis. In: Ropper AH, et al. Adams and Victor's Principles of Neurology. 9th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw Hill; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aid=3630099. Accessed March 7, 2010.
- Seizures and epilepsy: Hope through research. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/epilepsy/detail_epilepsy.htm. Accessed March 8, 2010.
- Surgery types: Benefits and risks. Epilepsy Foundation. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/about/treatment/surgery/benefitsrisks.cfm. Accessed March 10, 2010.
- The operation. Epilepsy Foundation. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/about/treatment/surgery/operation.cfm. Accessed March 10, 2010.
- After the surgery: Planning ahead. Epilepsy Foundation. http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/about/treatment/surgery/planning.cfm. Accessed March 10, 2010.
Find Mayo Clinic on