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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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What Causes Lethargy After Surgery For Brain Tumor?

Our friend just had brain surgery to remove a benign tumor. He is suffering some memory loss or at least can t always express what he seems to be thinking. He keeps wanting to keep his eyes closed. We are told he his having some sight issues in the left eye but we don t understand why he keeps closing both. He responds to us but keeps his eyes closed. He is also very lethargic at times. We are told the CT scans look good and better each time. No bleeding in the brain. He also has a blood clot in the lung they are treating. The main question is what might be causing him to want to keep his eyes closed and why is he so lethargic at times?
Fri, 5 Dec 2014
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Neurologist, Surgical 's  Response
Hello. I have been through you question and understand your concern.

After brain surgery, which is a major event, it is quite common to feel tired and want to sleep. The conscience is an important factor to evaluate the post operative course (staying with closed eyes, but opening on demand is an evaluation of conscience, which in this case is 14 out of 15 point). Brain CT as well as other systemic parameters are important to evaluate the course, which are reported to be normal. The visual issues are connected to the brain lesion location while the consciousness is related to the whole brain. Lethargy is caused to the "trauma" the brain suffered for having a tumor removal which is quite invasive for the brain.

If the CT scan is normal it is expected that the patient recovers fully, included memory, unless the location of the surgery which you did not report is not associated with it.

In a few days I would expect fully recovery.

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What Causes Lethargy After Surgery For Brain Tumor?

Hello. I have been through you question and understand your concern. After brain surgery, which is a major event, it is quite common to feel tired and want to sleep. The conscience is an important factor to evaluate the post operative course (staying with closed eyes, but opening on demand is an evaluation of conscience, which in this case is 14 out of 15 point). Brain CT as well as other systemic parameters are important to evaluate the course, which are reported to be normal. The visual issues are connected to the brain lesion location while the consciousness is related to the whole brain. Lethargy is caused to the trauma the brain suffered for having a tumor removal which is quite invasive for the brain. If the CT scan is normal it is expected that the patient recovers fully, included memory, unless the location of the surgery which you did not report is not associated with it. In a few days I would expect fully recovery. Hope this helps with the questions, please feel free for asking further questions