The use of intraoperative neurosurgical ultrasound for surgical navigation in low- and middle-income countries: the initial experience in Tanzania

摘要

OBJECTIVE Neuronavigation has become a crucial tool in the surgical management of CNS pathology in higher income countries, but has yet to be implemented in most low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to cost constraints. In these resource-limited settings, neurosurgeons typically rely on their understanding of neuroanatomy and preoperative imaging to help guide them through a particular operation, making surgery more challenging for the surgeon and a higher risk for the patient. Alternatives to assist the surgeon improve the safety and efficacy of neurosur- gery are important for the expansion of subspecialty neurosurgery in LMICs. A low-cost and efficacious alternative may be the use of intraoperative neurosurgical ultrasound. The authors analyze the preliminary results of the introduction of intraoperative ultrasound in an LMIC setting.