What should you know about frameless stereotactic surgery?

Instead of attaching a rigid frame to the skull, the team uses a customised mask, surface tracking, or image guidance to account for head position. Planning combines scans with the treatment system so the target and nearby healthy structures can be mapped. In oncology, the phrase may refer to focused radiation, such as stereotactic radiosurgery, rather than an operation involving a large incision.

Suitability depends on the lesion’s size, number, location, symptoms, previous treatment, and the person’s overall health. Brain metastases and selected brain tumours may be considered, but a treatment plan must also account for swelling and the distance from sensitive structures. The clinician will explain whether the aim is control, symptom relief, or tissue removal.

Bring a complete medicine list and tell the team about blood thinners, implanted devices, allergies, and difficulty lying still. Ask whether you need to fast, arrange transport, or take a steroid to reduce swelling. Treatment may involve several planning and positioning checks. Follow the discharge instructions about rest, medicines, wound or mask care, and when normal activities can resume.

After treatment, contact the clinical team for worsening headache, repeated vomiting, a seizure, new weakness, confusion, vision change, fever, or increasing sleepiness. Call emergency services for a seizure that does not stop, sudden loss of consciousness, or rapidly developing one-sided weakness.

Is the plan radiation or an open operation? How will my head be positioned and tracked? What nearby structures need protection? Would surgery, whole-brain radiotherapy, or another approach be more suitable? When will follow-up imaging assess the treated area?