India musician plays guitar throughout his brain surgery

A 37-year-old professional musician in India played the guitar on the operating table of his four-hour brain surgery. This incredible procedure was captured on footage and the story was on viral. 

Abhishek Prasad suffered from a rare disorder that impaired his ability to play his favorite instrument. The ailment, called "musician's dystonia", affected Prasad's left hand and finger movement because of the brain sending incorrect information.

To help with the surgery, Prasad was asked to play every time doctors "burnt" a circuit in this brain. Fortunately, the surgery was a success and Prasad was able to play with ease now. 

"It was a magical feeling, completely magical," the 37-year-old musician said of the first chords he played after the operation. "I wasn't able to play for the past 20 months, and in a few seconds, my fingers were completely released, and I was able to play normally."

The treatment uses radio-frequency currents to destroy the part of the brain circuit triggering abnormal tremors.

According to the surgeon Sharan Srinivasan, the patient has to give a real-time feedback to make sure they know they've reached the right location. 

After fitting a frame to Prasad's head, the surgery team used a special MRI scan to map and pinpoint the exact area that required burning. 

Awake brain surgery dates to ancient times, when doctors sometimes drilled into patients' skulls, presumably to relieve seizures or headaches, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Neurosurgeon Sharan Srinivasan, who performed the treatment, said that they have taken extra precautions to relieve the pain.

"He was only under local anesthesia, which means wherever I made a cut in the skin, I give an injection, so that he doesn't feel the pain," he said. "The brain itself has no pain, only the skin or the top of the skull that is painful."

Prasad stayed in the hospital for three days after the surgery and is doing well. He plans to release his first song next week - on the guitar, of course.

Sources: India Times, BBC

Editor: Jiao Jie 

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