Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery - Municipal Hospital Karlsruhe

About the Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery at Municipal Hospital Karlsruhe

The Department of Adult and Pediatric Neurosurgery, Spinal Surgery at the Municipal Hospital Karlsruhe offers the full range of medical services in its specialization areas. The medical facility provides effective surgical treatment of diseases of the central and peripheral nervous systems. When performing interventions on the brain, spinal cord, their meninges and blood vessels, as well as on the peripheral nervous system, the department's neurosurgeons use state-of-the-art neuronavigation and stereotaxy devices, ultrasound and endoscopic equipment, intraoperative electrophysiological monitoring (EEG, EMG, visual evoked potentials, acoustic evoked potentials), devices for continuous intracranial pressure measurement and other technical options. The department's competent surgeons perform about 1,800 interventions of varying complexity annually. The department has 39 beds to accommodate its patients. The department's surgeons cooperate with neurologists, pediatric surgeons, neuroradiologists, oncologists, otolaryngologists and other doctors, thanks to which their patients receive comprehensive medical care. The department is headed by Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Uwe Spetzger.

The treatment of brain tumors is one of the department's priorities. Successful brain surgery requires high-tech equipment and the exceptional professionalism of surgeons. Since the department has all this, it achieves optimal treatment results. In the course of surgical interventions for brain tumors, cutting-edge navigation systems and microsurgical techniques are necessarily used. The operation is planned with the help of an MRI scan. Depending on a tumor location, ultrasound imaging and electrophysiological neuromonitoring may also be used. The goal of surgical treatment is not only the tumor resection, but also the preservation of vital functions, since damage to the nervous tissue can lead to paralysis, speech disorders, etc. The specialists in this medical field most often deal with treating meningiomas, gliomas, pituitary tumors (adenomas), acoustic neuromas and brain metastases.

The department often admits patients with cerebral aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, cavernomas and angiomas. To treat aneurysms, the department's specialists perform clipping or endovascular coiling: access to the pathological focus is not through a surgical incision, but through a puncture of the inguinal artery. A catheter is inserted into the inguinal artery and directed to the aneurysm under X-ray guidance. Such treatment guarantees an effective result and maximum safety for the patient. Arteriovenous malformations, cavernomas and angiomas are also most often removed with endovascular techniques, and in especially complex cases, a hybrid intervention combining endovascular manipulations and classical surgical techniques is possible.

The department's neurosurgeons have long successful experience in the surgical treatment of spinal diseases, particularly degenerative lesions, tumors and injuries. In most cases, microsurgical techniques and minimally invasive procedures are used, which are highly accurate and efficient. The maximum surgical safety is ensured with the use of advanced surgical microscopes and navigation systems. Restoration of mobility after such operations occurs in the shortest possible time. The department also successfully performs X-ray guided facet joint infiltration, intrathecal pain management and neuromodulation for chronic back pain.

The department's range of surgical services includes:

• Neurosurgery
  • Treatment of brain tumors
    • Meningiomas
    • Gliomas
    • Acoustic neuromas
    • Pituitary tumors
    • Brain metastases
      • Surgical resection using neuronavigation and electrophysiological monitoring
  • Treatment of brain hemorrhages and vascular malformations
    • Subarachnoid hemorrhages
      • Endovascular interventions
    • Cerebral aneurysms
      • Endovascular procedures: clipping and coiling
    • Arteriovenous malformations: cavernomas and angiomas
      • Classic surgical interventions
      • Endovascular interventions
      • Hybrid operations
  • Treatment of peripheral nerve diseases
    • Tumors of the peripheral nervous system
    • Compression syndromes
    • Nerve ending lesions
  • Treatment of movement disorders caused by pathologies of the nervous system
    • Deep brain stimulation
    • Ablation procedures (rare)
  • Treatment of chronic neurological pain syndromes
    • Microvascular decompression according to the Jannetta procedure for trigeminal neuralgia, vestibular paroxysm and facial spasm
    • Intrathecal pain management (implantation of special pumps with pain medications) for back pain
    • Neuromodulation for back pain
    • X-ray guided facet joint infiltration for back pain
  • Treatment of pathologies of the nervous system in children (in cooperation with the Department of Pediatric Surgery)
    • Hydrocephalus
    • Spina bifida
    • Craniosynostosis
    • Skull fractures
    • Brain hemorrhages
• Surgical treatment of spinal pathologies
  • Treatment of degenerative spinal diseases
    • Lumbar herniated discs
    • Lumbar spinal stenosis and lumbar spinal instability (spondylolisthesis)
    • Cervical spinal stenosis and cervical herniated discs 
  • Treatment of spinal tumors
    • Meningiomas
    • Intraspinal neuromas
    • Intramedullary spinal cord tumors
    • Spinal hemangioblastomas
    • Spinal metastases
  • Treatment of spinal injuries and fractures
• Other diseases and surgical treatments