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Doctor Uses Cordless Drill to Perform Brain Surgery

Posted by samzenpus on

Neurosurgeon Henry Marsh used a $65 Bosch drill to perform an emergency operation on a Ukrainian woman's head while traveling through her country. They had trouble finding an anesthetist so the woman was just given a local anesthetic and was conscious during the procedure. The BBC will air a show about the rather remarkable surgical procedure on March 30 and people in the US can read all about it in Time-Life Books Complete Home Improvement and Brain Surgery Manual.

2 comments

  1. Sounds familiar... by cylcyl · · Score: 2, Funny

    Wasn't this an episode of Grey's Anatomy last season?

  2. Unremarkable by hob42 · · Score: 1

    Considering they use the same essential technology in the OR - just drills that cost $10,000 each - and some kinds of brain surgery are routinely done under local anesthetic... this is less impressive to me than someone performing an emergency trach with a ball-point pen.

    (Which they actually taught us about in nursing school, though I've forgotten the details by now.)