Patient Plays Saxophone While Undergoing 9-Hour Brain Surgery
Undergoing surgery can be a big deal for people. It can be nerve-wracking to imagine being cut open and worked on, but it’s something that can save lives or greatly improve quality of life.
One thing that makes undergoing surgery more bearable for some people is knowing they’ll be put to sleep for the entire process. I’ve been under general anesthesia a handful of times for various surgeries in childhood and adulthood and one thing that was comforting was knowing I’d be sound asleep through it all, unconscious of what was going on.
Of course, some people have a fear of being put to sleep and that’s understandable as well, but can you imagine undergoing surgery while wide awake?
According to a press release, a 35-year-old patient at the Paideia International Hospital in Rome, Italy recently underwent intensive brain surgery and he did it while wide away! Not only was he awake during the surgery, but he actually played a musical instrument while surgeons operated on his brain.
Dr. Christian Brogna operated on the patient, identified only as C.Z., along with a team of surgeons and experts. The surgery lasted 9 hours and the patient stayed awake and alert throughout the duration of the operation.
According to RaiNews, Dr. Brogna explained that there was a purpose behind having the patient play the saxophone. Prior to the surgery, the patient had expressed the desire to continue playing his instrument after the procedure.
Brogna said:
“Playing music during the surgery also allows us to test a myriad of brain functions and neural networks. While playing – continues Brogna – a person moves his hands in a coordinated way, counts to keep time , interacts with the eyes with the rest of the team, has prosody because music is a language, he remembers. An intervention of this type is like a real orchestra in which, at the center, the soloist is the patient and each member of theorchestra – the medical team – does its part in which it is highly specialized.”
The patient played the theme song from the 1970 movie “Love Story,” and the Italian national anthem, at various times throughout the surgery.
According to Hopkins Medicine, brain surgery performed while a patient is awake can allow the surgeon to lcoate areas of the brain that are functioning and should be avoided. They explain, “To precisely locate the functional areas of the brain that must be avoided, the neurosurgeon will ask the patient to perform tasks such as talking, counting and looking at pictures.” Apparently, they may occasionally be tasked with putting on a musical performance as well!
Thankfully, the operation to remove the patient’s brain tumor was a complete success. Check out the video below:
