Summary
Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of patients with disorders affecting the nervous system, which includes the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves.
Neurosurgery is the discipline of medicine and specialty of surgery that provides operative and non-operative management (i.e. critical care, prevention, diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, and rehabilitation) of disorders of the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their supporting structures and vascular supply; the evaluation and treatment of pathological processes that modify the function or activity of the nervous system, including the hypophysis; and the operative and non-operative management of pain.
As such, neurological surgery encompasses treatment of adult and pediatric patients with disorders of the nervous system:
- Disorders of the brain, meninges, and skull, and their blood supply (includes the extracranial carotid and vertebral column; and those that may require treatment by spinal fusion or instrumentation); and
- Disorders of the cranial and spinal nerves throughout their distribution
What is a Neurosurgeon?
Neurosurgeons treat diseases of the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves and their coverings, including the skull and the spine, when those diseases may require surgery. Although surgery is an important part of what neurosurgeons do, they are also experts in the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of these diseases.
NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
