Pediatric Neurosurgical Treatment Options

Goryeb Children's Hospital at Morristown Medical Center offers pediatric neurosurgical treatment for children from infancy to adolescence.

Neurological conditions that we treat surgically include:

• Brachial plexus injury
• Brain tumors
• Cerebral palsy
• Chiari malformation
• Concussion and brain trauma
• Congenital face, neck and spine deformity
• Craniosynostosis and other craniofacial conditions
• Developmental and congenital anomalies in infants, children and adolescents
• Epilepsy
• Hydrocephalus
• Movement disorders, including dystonia and spasticity
• Peripheral nerve conditions
• Plagiocephaly
• Scoliosis
• Skull base problems
• Spina bifida
• Spinal cord injury
• Spinal cord tumors
• Spinal fusions
• Syringomyelia
• Tethered spinal cord
• Torticollis
• Vascular malformations, or arteriovenous malformations

Some of our pediatric neurosurgical treatments include:

• Deep brain stimulation – Electrodes are surgically placed in the brain through a small hole in the skull to stimulate deep brain structures. This procedure is used on patients with unilateral or bilateral movement disorders, such as tremor, spasticity or dystonia.
• Dorsal rhizotomy – Abnormal sensory nerve roots are partially cut to treat spasticity, or muscle tightness, in legs and arms without losing motor abilities. This treatment is often recommended for children with cerebral palsy and leg
  spasticity.
• Endoscopic surgery – A thin-walled tube, or endoscope, is inserted into an organ, allowing for the passage of a fiber-optic camera and small instruments so that minimally invasive surgery can be conducted.
• Shunts – A tube is surgically placed to divert spinal fluid from the brain or spinal canal to the abdomen, lungs or gallbladder.
• Vagal nerve stimulators (VNS) – An electrical stimulator is surgically implanted to treat various kinds of seizures and neurological disorders.