Division of Anesthesia for Neurosurgery

At Weill Cornell Medicine Anesthesiology, our neuroanesthesiologists are dedicated to the care of patients suffering from a variety of neurologic disorders. We also act as consultants for patients with neurological conditions undergoing other surgical procedures. The faculty have an excellent collaborative relationship with the neurosurgeons, neuroradiologists, neurophysiologists and nurses with whom we work on a daily basis.

The pediatric anesthesiology division covers both pediatric neurosurgery cases and assists with adult neurosurgery cases as well.

Our physicians provide expert care for roughly 3,000 patients annually in the operating rooms and approximately 1,200 patients annually in the interventional neuroradiology suite. The division has been at the forefront of developing anesthesia and sedation protocols for intracranial brain tumors, vascular malformations, and epilepsy surgery as well as spine surgery and interventional procedures.

Clinical

The neuroanesthesiology division covers six to seven ORs daily as well as two to three interventional neuroradiology suites. We are experts in the care of patients suffering from a variety of neurologic disorders.

• For brain tumors, we provide anesthesia for traditional craniotomy for tumor resection, and have been at the forefront of developing sedation and pain relief protocols for the patient who must remain awake during portions of their surgery.
  
  

• For patients with an aneurysm, vascular malformation or carotid stenosis, we provide expert care in the interventional neuroradiology suite or in our state-of-the-art hybrid operating room, which allows a patient to have both a neuroradiologic study and open surgery without being moved to another hospital location.
  
  
• We care for both minor and major spinal surgical patients. Whether a patient needs a vertebroplasty, excision of a herniated disk, laminectomy, multilevel spinal fusion or placement of spinal cord stimulators, we tailor our anesthetic to ensure patient comfort and facilitate the latest technology in the monitoring of spinal cord function.
  
  
• We provide mild to deep sedation for patients with movement disorders who need to undergo placement of deep brain stimulators; these allow the patient to follow commands and perform basic neurologic exam throughout the operation.  For epilepsy patients, we care for those undergoing both diagnostic and treatment procedures from vagal nerve stimulator placement to craniotomy. 
  
  
• We provide care in the interventional neuroradiology suite for endovascular tumor and AVM embolization, aneurysm coiling, carotid stent placement, vertebroplasty, direct arterial tumor injections of chemotherapy and thrombectomy for strokes. We are an accredited comprenhensive stroke center.

In collaboration with the neurosurgery department, we have created five ERAS protocols for minor and major spine surgery, Chiari malformation surgery, retromastoid and suboccipital craniotomy and transsphenoidal procedures. The goals of the protocols are to increase patient satisfaction by using a multimodal approach for pain management, decrease opioid use, and decrease postoperative nausea and vomiting.

Education

The Department of Anesthesiology's Neuroanesthesiology Fellowship is a one-year program that provides advanced clinical training in the subspecialty. Fellows also design and initiate research and participate in the education of residents. The Fellowship Program has received five-year accreditation by the International Council on Perioperative Neuroscience Training (ICPNT).

Our program provides unparalleled experience to the fellow as we work with one of the busiest and highest-ranking neurosurgery departments in the country and the world. We provide the fellow with both an outstanding clinical experience as well as the opportunity to participate in research in many areas related to neuroanesthesiology. 

Learn more about the Neuroanesthesiology Fellowship.

Research

Ongoing funded research by members of the division:

• Define the mechanisms by which a diverse group of pharmacological agents produce anesthesia | PI: Peter Goldstein, MD

• Discovering neuronal firing patterns underlying anesthetic-induced slow waves | PI: Jyun-you Liou, MD, PhD

• Impact of anesthetic technique on delirium and functional status [Thrive study] | Site PI: Kane Pryor, MD

• Understanding the physiology and pharmacology of tandem pore (K2P) potassium ion channels | PI: Paul Riegelhaupt, MD, PhD

• Use of non-invasive neuromonitoring techniques to mitigate neurocognitive insults following surgery and anesthesia | PI: Seyed Safavynia, MD, PhD
  
  

Ongoing funded research by other members of the department related to neuroanesthesiology:

• Cerebrovascular physiology underlying cognition in end-stage heart failure and LVAD | PI: Julia Scarpa, MD, PhD

Other publications by the Department of Anesthesiology Faculty