eli5: How do surgeons remove a brain tumor without damaging the brain?

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I’ve been watching Grey’s Anatomy (I know) and I’m curious- I know that you have to move around the ‘important parts’ to access a tumor if you’re able to even operate at all. But, how is any part of the brain ‘not important’? Meaning, how are surgeons able to touch and manipulate parts of the brain without it 1) turning into mush 2) being damaged and affected permanently ? Thank you and sorry if this is a dumb question, Grey’s has me real into this.

In: Biology

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Anonymous 0 Comments

They don’t. The idea is that the damage they cause during surgery is insignificant compared to the immediate risks associated with not removing the tumor.

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