An aneurysm is a weak area in the wall of a blood vessel that causes the blood vessel to bulge or balloon out. It can leak blood and cause a stroke or bleeding along the surface of the brain (also called a subarachnoid hemorrhage).
See also: Aneurysm in the brain
Your doctor will decide the best way to perform surgery on your aneurysm. Endovascular repair, most often using a "coil" or coiling, is a less invasive way to treat some aneurysms.
During endovascular repair of an aneurysm, your surgeon blocks off the aneurysm before it can break open (ruptures).
If an aneurysm in the brain ruptures, it is an emergency and needs medical treatment, and often surgery. Endovascular repair is more often used when this happens.
A person may have an aneurysm but not any symptoms. This kind of aneurysm may have been noticed when an MRI of your brain was done for another reason.
Risks for any anesthesia are:
Possible risks of brain surgery are:
Signs of neurological problems include:
This procedure is often performed on an emergency basis. If it is not an emergency:
A hospital stay for endovascular repair of an aneurysm may be as short as 1 to 2 days if there was no bleeding beforehand.
The hospital stay after craniotomy and aneurysm clipping is usually around 4 to 6 days. When bleeding or other complications occur before or during surgery, the hospital stay can be 1 to 2 weeks, or more.
You will probably have an x-ray test of the blood vessels in the brain (angiogram) before you are sent home.
After successful surgical treatment for an aneurysm, it is uncommon for it to bleed again. Growth of the aneurysm may be less likely after craniotomy and clipping when compared to intravascular repair, and both are more likely to prevent enlargement and bursting when compared to doing nothing.
The outlook also depends on any brain damage that occurred from bleeding before, during, or after the surgery.
Aneurysm repair - cerebral; Cerebral aneurysm repair; Coiling; Saccular aneurysm repair; Berry aneurysm repair; Fusiform aneurysm repair; Dissecting aneurysm repair; Endovascular aneurysm repair - brain