Neurosurgery
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For many people with a brain or spine condition, surgery offers the best chance of relief or recovery.
But if you’re looking for a neurosurgeon, you shouldn’t trust your care to just anyone. It’s important to select a team that performs complex brain and spine surgeries on a regular basis.
University of Iowa Health Care neurosurgeons have the skills and experience you expect and deserve:
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We routinely treat even the rarest and most serious conditions, such as Chiari malformation.
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We’re equipped to provide lifesaving emergency surgery for people with a stroke or ruptured brain aneurysm.
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We have the tools and technology necessary to remove hard-to-reach brain tumors or arteriovenous malformations (AVMs).
As our patient, you can also take comfort knowing we offer the care and support you’ll need after surgery.
The full range of neurosurgery options
Because our neurosurgeons offer so many different procedures, we can select the option that best meets your medical needs, risk factors, and personal goals.
Our team includes specialists in:
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Brain surgery: We offer all types of “open” brain surgery, such as focal resection (removing a small section of brain where seizures occur). In many cases, we can also perform brain surgery without a craniotomy (temporarily removing a piece of your skull).
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Neurointerventional surgery: These minimally invasive procedures treat stroke and other blood vessel problems in the brain. We insert a catheter (flexible tube) through a tiny incision near your groin or wrist, and gently guide it through your blood vessels to your brain. Then we deliver medications or special treatment devices through the catheter.
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Skull base surgery: We specialize in treating medical conditions, such as pituitary tumors, within the skull base (the area behind your eyes and nose). Our surgeons are skilled at maneuvering inside this crowded area without damaging the nerves and muscles that help you see and speak.
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Spine surgery: Our back pain experts offer many types of traditional and minimally invasive spine surgery. These include spine tumor removal and laminectomy (widening the spinal canal to take pressure off your nerves).
Our neurosurgeons also specialize in device implantation. For example, we offer deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s disease, vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) for epilepsy, and spinal cord stimulation for back pain.
Leading neurosurgery expertise
We routinely see patients from Iowa and nearby states who come to us for treatment or a second opinion. We also treat many people whose doctors recommend they receive their care here.
That’s because we’re known for providing:
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Surgery for hard-to-treat epilepsy: We offer surgical treatments such as laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) and frontal lobe resection for people whose epilepsy doesn’t respond to medication.
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Innovative skull base techniques: Our skull base surgeons are trained to perform advanced, minimally invasive techniques that are only available at top medical centers. For example, we often use endoscopic endonasal surgery to remove certain skull base tumors through the nose.
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Leading craniosynostosis care: Our pediatric neurosurgeons diagnose and treat all types of craniosynostosis (a skull abnormality that occurs during infancy). We also offer every kind of surgical treatment, including cranial vault reconstruction and endoscopic strip craniectomy.
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Pioneers in Chiari malformation surgery: Our team includes some of the country’s foremost experts in Chiari malformation (when the brain doesn’t fit properly inside the skull). In fact, we developed some of the techniques now used to treat patients across the world. Our surgical areas of expertise include duraplasty and posterior fossa decompression.
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Advanced stroke care: We’re home to Iowa’s first and only Joint Commission-certified Comprehensive Stroke Center (CSC). Only medical centers that offer neurointerventional surgery can earn CSC accreditation. These procedures let us treat stroke less invasively, without opening the skull—reducing the risk of surgical complications.
Neurosurgery tests and treatments
- Aneurysm clipping
- Aneurysm coiling
- Auditory brainstem response
- Carotid angioplasty and stenting
- Carotid endarterectomy
- Cranial vault reconstruction
- Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
- Dorsal Rhizotomy
- Embolization
- Endoscopic strip craniectomy
- Focal resection
- Frontal lobe resection
- Intracranial EEG
- Intraoperative CT scan
- Laminectomy
- Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT)
- Mechanical thrombectomy
- Microvascular decompression
- Posterior fossa decompression
- Radiosurgery
- Responsive neurostimulation (RNS)
- Skull base surgery
- Spine surgery
- Sterotactic neurosurgery Spinal cord stimulator
- Temporal lobe resection
- Trauma Surgery
- Thrombolysis
- Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS)
Neurosurgery conditions treated
- Acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma)
- Arteriovenous malformation (AVM)
- Brain aneurysm
- Brain tumor
- Carotid artery stenosis
- Cavernoma
- Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks
- Cerebrovascular surgery
- Chiari malformation
- Chondroma
- Chordoma
- Craniopharyngioma
- Craniosynostosis
- Dystonia
- Epilepsy
- Essential tremor
- Herniated disc
- Hydrocephalus
- Meningioma
- Nasopharyngeal carcinoma
- Parkinson’s disease
- Pituitary adenoma
- Pituitary tumor
- Scoliosis
- Skull base tumor
- Spasticity
- Spinal stenosis
- Spine tumor
- Stroke
- Temporal bone fractures
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- Trigeminal neuralgia
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