So I read up about the surgery, watched the video on youtube, etc... just something wasn't too super clear in all that stuff???... After the bone is removed from the back of your noggin, what do they fill the gap with? I took a snowball to the back of the head a couple months ago from some moron who didn't know my problem and that that hurt like a you know what!
So I'm imagining they put some kind of covering back there... I don't want my cerebellum just hanging out ready to get whacked again. What protects it now?
I was told by my NS that the muscles are so thick and strong that they provide the needed coverage. I wasn't satisfied with that answer, but she said it would take a freak accident to puncture that area. I was told to avoid certain activities and I am careful about what I choose to do. I would rather miss out on an activity than take a chance.
When is your surgery? Are you feeling excited, nervous at all? Good Luck!
I believe what they will use is called a Dura patch covering that stretches,I suppose so,because that is what they used on my daughter when she had decompression surgery a couple of yrs.ago.
My son just had this surgery Feb. 10th 2012 at the age of 3. He had decompression, removal of skull & vertebra. His Dura was opened & they used a synthetic patch to close it up. They use to use a graft from the body but his NUERO said they have had more success w/ synthetic than the grafted patch. Hope that helps a little.
My patch was done 8 years ago and I too had a synthetic patch instead of donor. My doc said it caused less complications than donor patches. No problems!
Dr Oro put a titanium plate in that the muscles attached to. My dura patch was harvested from a spot about an inch higher on my head than the incision. I have had no problems and haven’t noticed an empty spot.
They used a cadavere's pericardium to close the decompression area, to provide total movement. Then they used titanium screen to screw to the skull to close the craniectomy.