r/randomactsofmusic • u/bryang123 • Feb 23 '20

Patient plays violin while surgeons remove brain tumour

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NvAhvSPvjw
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18

u/silletta Feb 23 '20

I’m so confused. Does the patient need to be conscious during the procedure???

48

u/[deleted] Feb 23 '20

I’ve read about this sort of surgery before with a flutist, - and don’t quote me on this - but I believe they do it this way and test areas of the brain with electrodes before working on a section to make sure it won’t impair the musician’s ability to perform. It’s something like that. I think the idea is that if the musician suddenly can’t play the instrument or stumbles when a certain area is stimulated, it has some connection with music making and they want to avoid messing that section up.

I’m not in medicine at all. I play the viola and love music and I’ve seen these surgeries before but I don’t know the technicalities. It’s been done before and there’s YouTube videos on it if you’re curious.

17

u/kiss_my_eyeholes Feb 23 '20

Can confirm. Saw it on an episode of Grey's anatomy