A Vagal Nerve Stimulation (VNS), a unique functional neurosurgery to control seizures (fits), was performed on a 33-year-old man recently and he has recovered well at Meenakshi Mission Hospital and Research Centre in Madurai.
According to a press release, the man hailing from Madurai has been suffering from drug-resistant epilepsy after a severe head injury a year ago. He underwent a two-hour-long procedure and was discharged within five days after the procedure to resume all normal activities.
The patient who used to have numerous seizures in a week was leading a seizure-free life for six months post-procedure, and took only fewer anti-seizure drugs than before, it said.
The treatment was planne by a multidisciplinary team, led by T.C. Vijay Anand, senior consultant and Head, Department of Neurology, and S. Narendiran, consultant, Department of Neurology.
The procedure was successfully performed by K. Selvamuthukumaran, senior consultant and Head, Department of Neurosurgery.
Epilepsy was caused when certain brain cells misfired, sending the body’s communication system into chaos.
Dr. Selvamuthukumaran said VNS therapy was implanting of a pacemaker-sized device under the chest-skin connecting to the left vagus nerve, one of the two vagal nerves that transmitted messages from the brain to other parts of the body, and vice versa.
The device sent electrical impulses to the brain via the vagus nerve at regular intervals. This regular stimulation helped in bringing down the number and severity of seizures.
Dr. Narendiran said for about two-thirds of epileptics, taking anti-seizure drugs was enough to return to normal life.
However, not all patients responded to medication and for them, VNS therapy was a boon. Global data showed that VNS helped reduce seizure rates by half.
Its battery lasted 6-11 years and could be replaced by another simple operation. The total cost of the procedure was between ₹3.5 lakh and ₹ 5 lakh, the release added.
