How Much Can Be Completely Treated/Cured?

[sykosomatik]

Some poster on another thread said something to the effect that there isn't much that you can "cure" in neurosurgery.

What exactly can be completely treated by neurosurgeons? Aneurysms,
non-infiltrative tumors (meningiomas), and pituitary adenomas/craniopharyngiomas? Maybe some seizure disorders?

Are a lot of the surgeries palliative or simply just to delay the course of the condition (i.e. surgical treatment for glioblastoma multiforme).

I'm not sure if there is anyone here involved in NS, but maybe for the NS wannabe what do you know about this?

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[newbie5971]

I think a more appropriate question is what can medicine (in general) cure? Take away antibiotics and vaccines, and the vast majority of curable ailments require surgical interventions.

That being said, there are a number of pathologies that can be "cured" with neurosurgery, and a lot more that can offer patients significant and prolonged symptomatic relief.

A prominent pediatrician once told me about how he once had a herniated cervical disc that basically confined him to the use of one arm. After months of torturing himself with conservative therapy, he finally had an ACDF and walked out a day later free of pain. He said that nothing he ever did as a peditrician had that dramatic an effect on his patients; and if he had known that, he would've chosen a surgical field instead of pediatrics.