Surgery for a Brain Aneurysm: Hospital Recovery

The time you may spend in the hospital can vary widely. The stay depends on the amount of damage caused by the aneurysm, your health, and your response to treatment and therapy. Your health care team will monitor how well treatment has worked. Then they will decide whether you need additional support and resources. 

In the ICU

Your loved ones may visit you in the intensive care unit (ICU). You may be attached to many devices to assist with your breathing and to monitor pressure on your brain, any new bleeding, narrowing of your blood vessels (vasospasm), and body functions. Special devices may be used to help maintain blood flow in your legs. After open surgery, your head may be bandaged. After an endovascular procedure, you will need to lie still for several hours. A healthcare provider will examine you frequently to ensure there is no additional brain damage. Once stable, you will be moved to a regular hospital room.

Evaluating the outcome

Follow-up tests may be done 3 to 5 days after treatment to show how well the treatment worked. They may also reveal new problems. An arteriogram shows an image of a treated aneurysm. A Doppler test may be done daily to check for narrowing of your blood vessels. A computerized tomography (CT) scan shows any bleeding or swelling in your brain that may occur after treatment. In some cases, a magnetic imaging resonance (MRI) scan may be done. This is another type of scan that can image brain tissue. 

 As healing begins 

As healing begins, your ability to swallow, move about and perform other functions will be checked. At first, you may be on a liquid diet. As your body recovers, you can gradually start eating solid foods.  You will also learn breathing exercises. These will help your body recover from surgery. As you heal, you may also need help with transferring out of bed, grooming yourself, and going to the bathroom. The nurse and hospital staff will assist you with these functions.

Working toward recovery

You may have trouble moving your arms or legs, talking or understanding language. If so, you may need rehabilitation. Special therapists will work with you to help improve your balance, strength, speech, and other skills for activities of daily living (for example: grooming, going to the bathroom, feeding oneself). A therapist may also suggest equipment that can help you move about at home.