Burr Hole Surgery Manchester

Burr hole surgery is where either a single or multiple small holes are drilled into the skull. From these holes, fluid can be drained, or specific areas of the brain can be accessed and attended to as required.

Burr hole surgery can be performed for a range of reasons. Most commonly it is used to drain fluid or a haematoma from the brain.

Sometimes after a minor head injury there can be a very gradual bleed on to the surface of the brain which starts to put pressure on the brain after a few weeks (a “chronic subdural haematoma”). If this occurs, a patient will need to undergo a burr hole procedure to drain this haematoma.

Burr hole surgery can also be used insert medical devices such as a shunt to drain a build-up of fluid within the brain (hydrocephalus).

It is also used to perform a biopsy on a known or suspected brain tumour. Burr hole surgery can be seen as the first step towards larger and more complicated brain surgery.

Burr hole surgery can be performed on the following conditions:

• Subdural Haematomas
• Hydrocephalus