Patient chats during brain surgery

AN AUSTRALIAN was conscious and spoke to his medical team during life-saving brain surgery in what doctors are claiming as a world-first procedure with cutting-edge technology.

John James, 78, said it was a strange experience to hear the doctors and nurses talking to each other as he lay on the operating table with a half-inch hole in his head.

But he said he was confident throughout the surgery in April to remove an aneurysm from his brain, which threatened to burst and kill him.

“The nurses looking after me, they were talking to me,” the retired bus driver told media in Canberra.

“I could only see bits because I couldn’t move my head at all.

“I wasn’t worried whatsoever...I was quite confident all the way through.”

Doctors asked Mr James to read words and numbers on flashcards during the surgery so they knew they were not affecting his vision, as the aneurysm was behind his right eye.

The team believes the combination of the technology and the small size of the hole in Mr James’s head, as well as the fact he was conscious throughout the operation, makes it a world first.

“As far as I’m aware reading the literature, this kind of thing as a package has never been done before,” said Canberra Hospital neurosurgeon Vini Khurana.

“So we were pleased. The result was obviously very good.”

Virtual reality software allowed the team to act out the operation to drain blood from the aneurysm.