 Bad news doesn’t get much worse than hearing you have a brain
tumor. Just ask Mount Vernon’s Janette Dralle, who was told that
she had a tumor last winter.
Fortunately for Dralle, St. Joseph’s new image-guided
surgical equipment for neurosurgery ensured that she could
remain close to home for care, with faster surgery and recovery
time than with traditional surgery.
“I had my surgery on a Wednesday, and I was home Sunday,”
said Dralle.
Purchased last spring, the Stryker Navigation image-guided
system for neurological surgeries uses infrared optics, special
software and interactive displays of the patient’s brain scans
to optimize the surgeon’s effectiveness.
“In lay terms, it’s very much like a global positioning
system that provides valuable information on the position of
surgical targets,” said neurosurgeon David Baker, M.D., who was
Dralle’s surgeon.
 In addition to being used in tumor removal, the Stryker
Navigation system is also used in biopsies, the treatment of
brain aneurysms, the placement of ventricular shunts, and lumbar
spinal fusions in the lower back.
Stryker Navigation patients typically experience shorter
surgery times, smaller
surgical incisions, less trauma to healthy tissue, shorter
hospital stays, fewer complications and overall faster recovery.
“This is a state-of-the-art neurosurgery
system, so there is really no need for most people to head to
Seattle for treatment,”
—David Baker, MD |
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