Neurosurgery

One of the Most Experienced Neurosurgery Teams in the Country

Our Neurosurgery team is among the most experienced in the nation. We have performed thousands of surgeries and are dedicated to giving your child the best possible care before, during and after their procedure.

Patients travel to us from all over the world because we have the resources and expertise necessary to care for their neurological conditions through programs such as:

• Critical Care Neurology
• Deep Brain Stimulation Program
• Neuro Intensive Care Unit (Neuro ICU)
• Neuro-ophthalmology
• Spina Bifida Program

Highlights of our programs include:

• Ranked number three in the nation. U.S. News & World Report ranks our neurosurgery program number three in the nation, reflecting our commitment to excellence in care for our patients and families.
• Level 1 Surgery Verification. We have attained Level 1 Surgery Verification from the American College of Surgeons, a distinction that recognizes surgery centers that have improved surgical quality, prevented complications, reduced costs and saved lives.
• Successful outcomes. Children with rare and medically complex conditions, such as brachial plexus palsy and brain tumors, achieve exceptional outcomes at Children’s National. Our patients experience fewer complications, go home sooner and maintain long-term symptom relief.
• Personalized care. Throughout your child’s stay, they'll receive care from the surgeon who performed their procedure – even on evenings and weekends. Keeping your child’s care team consistent helps us personalize treatments and ensure they are successful and lasting.
• Full spectrum of treatments. Patients travel to us from all over the world because we have the depth of resources and expertise necessary to care for their neurological conditions. We invite referring physicians to view our neurosurgery referral guidelines.
• Specialized expertise. Our entire team is dedicated to meeting your child’s unique needs. Our Neuro-Intensive Care Unit nurses recognize signs of pain and complications your child may not be able to explain. 
• Pioneering new treatments. Children’s National is at the forefront of new device-based treatments that not only fix neurologic problems, but also restore brain functioning. We are one of only two pediatric programs in the country offering deep brain stimulation, which uses a pacemaker-like device to significantly reduce the burden of movement disorders and difficult-to-control epilepsy.
• Training the next generation of top neurosurgeons. We are proudly training the next generation of pediatric neurosurgeons through residency programs in conjunction with several area medical schools.

Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery

At Children’s National, your child can receive advanced neurosurgical treatments through our use of minimally invasive approaches to neurosurgery.

Minimally invasive techniques require small incisions – anywhere from the size of a pinhead (1.6 millimeters) to just a few inches. Not only do these techniques lead to safer, more effective care, but recovery time is significantly decreased, and your child may be able to go home in as little as two days, compared to two weeks with traditional open surgery.

We are often among the first in the country to learn new techniques and adopt the technologies that make minimally invasive neurosurgery possible.

These techniques and technologies include:

• Focused ultrasound. We use an acoustic lens to concentrate multiple sound waves on a point in the brain in one of two modalities: high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU). Learn more about focused ultrasound and our clinical trials.
• Endoscopic brain surgery. We use pen-sized cameras and tiny instruments to carry out endoscopic procedures. Endoscopic brain surgery helps us remove brain tumors or access surgical areas in children with irregularly shaped heads.
• Visualase^® magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided laser ablation. Using targeted laser beams, Visualase^® destroys abnormal brain tissues (lesions) that cause drug-resistant epilepsy. Ablation is safe and provides lasting relief from seizures.
• 1.5T intra-operative MRI (iMRI). iMRI is especially helpful when we are removing specific areas of tissue, such as brain tumors. While still asleep, we wheel your child into an MRI machine right in the operating room to confirm we have completely removed the abnormal tissue.
• Deep brain stimulation. Deep brain stimulation uses an implantable device to send continuous, low-level electrical impulses to areas deep within the brain. The impulses prevent the brain from firing abnormal signals that are linked to movement disorders and seizures.