Neurosurgery Neurosurgery
Surgery of the brain, spinal cord and spine: nerve root compression, tumours, intracranial bleeding, head injury.
Who is usually sent here
Pain radiating down the leg with progressive weakness or numbness, imaging showing compression, or a referral from neurology.
What this specialty does NOT cover
Most back pain does NOT need this specialty. It is involved when there are clear neurological signs or when non-surgical treatment has failed.
What a first visit usually involves
A careful neurological examination, matching symptoms to the exact level on the images — the two must agree for surgery to make sense.
Bring with you
Original MRI files, a drawing of where the numbness or weakness is, and a timeline of how it developed.
Worth asking
- Do my symptoms match what the scan shows
- What is the risk of waiting
- Which symptoms would surgery address, and which would it not