Gamma Knife Center
Our Approach
Gamma Knife surgery is an effective treatment for a broad range of patients, including
children and adults. Gamma Knife is utilized alone or in conjunction with traditional
therapies, and offers new hope for people with brain disorders that are too difficult
or too dangerous to treat with standard brain surgery.
Why Choose Us
The Augusta University Gamma Knife Center uses the most advanced technology available
for delivering Gamma Knife radiosurgery treatment - the Gamma Knife Perfexion with
Extend technology. The Medical Center at Augusta University is one of only 10 sites
in the United States to house this state-of-the-art equipment.
Skilled neurosurgeons at Augusta University Health are able to apply this advanced
technology to destroy brain tumors and malformed blood vessels without opening the
skull. Treatment is simple, painless, and fast. Gamma Knife, a targeted form of radiation
therapy, earned its name based upon its scalpel-like precision. With Gamma Knife,
incisions are not required and the procedure is usually performed without anesthesia.
Generally, the patient's family can accompany them during the majority of the procedure
and patients can usually return to preoperative lifestyle the same day.
Augusta University Gamma Knife Center is one of 72 Gamma Knife health care centers
in the country.
Gamma Knife surgery offers several advantages over traditional ways to treat difficult
brain tumors and other disorders including:
- Safe, minimally invasive procedure with no incision or opening of the skull
- Very little discomfort
- No general anesthesia, except for children
- Typically done on an outpatient basis
- No risk of infection, hemorrhage, spinal fluid leakage or adverse reactions to general
anesthesia
- Greater accuracy and reliability
- Less expensive than conventional neurosurgery
- Eliminates lengthy post-surgical hospital stays and disabilities and minimizes rehabilitation
costs
Diseases We Treat
Gamma Knife is used to treat a variety of conditions including:
- Primary brain tumors
- Metastatic brain tumors
- Blood vessel abnormalities such as ArterioVenous Malformations (AVMs)
- Certain chronic pain syndromes
- Parkinson's disease & essential tremors
- Epilepsy (related to certain tumors or vascular malformations)
- Meningiomas
- Acoustic neuromas
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Pituitary tumors
- Tumors of the skull base, throat, and upper neck
