Summary
Included in this literature review are 21 studies with participant numbers ranging from 6 to 105, including two studies with a paediatric cohort. Participants reported their experiences through questionnaires and interviews. Some participants reported some degree of pain or discomfort (8-81% for mild pain and 5-13% for severe pain), which mostly related to the cranial fixation device and positioning of the person during surgery. Despite that, satisfaction rates with the awake craniotomy ranged from 76-100%. One important finding of this research was reports of participants that actively contributing to the success of their surgery gave them a sense of control and empowerment in contrast to their feeling of helplessness when confronted with the diagnosis of their brain tumour. Trust into the surgical team and comprehensive preoperative preparation were important to the participants. Reassuringly, 86-100% of the participants reported they would undergo awake craniotomy again.
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Research publication
Khu, K. J. O., Pascual, J. S. G., & Ignacio, K. H. D. (2022). Patient-reported intraoperative experiences during awake craniotomy for brain tumors: a scoping review. Neurosurg Rev, 45(5), 3093-3107. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10143-022-01833-0