Aim: To assess the beneficial effects of intraoperative ultrasound in neurosurgery. Material and Methods: The present Hospital based observational study with prospective design was conducted in the Department of Neurosurgery, Bangur Institute of Neurosciences, IPGMER and SSKM Hospital, Kolkata, after approval of the institutional ethics committee, including 50 cases admitted with CNS tumours (Brain cases –44; Spine cases – 6), after considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria. All subject/ attendants were explained about the study and were asked to sign a written consent prior to commencement of the study. The information regarding each patient was kept confidential and was not revealed at any point of time. After enrolment into the study, patient’s information regarding their age, and history of present illness was taken and clinical as well as radiological examinations were done. Data was collected in a pretested and predesigned proforma. Surgery was planned and various parameters which reflect different aspects of the perceived utility of the IOUS were identified and scoring was done. Results: Laminectomy was performed in 5 (10%) of cases and craniotomy was performed in 44 (88%) of cases. Mean duration of surgery in Brain cases was 204.58±31.73 min. and in Spinal cases was 132.96±19.27 min. In majority of subjects total resection was performed (78%).For lesion identification and lesion delineation IOUS was useful in all cases.The majority demonstrated usefulness of IOUS in 5 or more parameters (88%).Mortality rate was 4% on follow-up. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that intraoperative ultrasound had a significant beneficial role in lesion identification and lesion delineation during surgery providing a high total resection rate of brain and spine masses in patients. As a result, it is recommended to use intraoperative ultrasound in neurosurgical procedures for the resection of brain and spine tumours as a useful imaging tool in distinguishing tumour tissues from normal tissues and maximising resection and detection of residual tumour tissues, taking into account the fact of non-availability of MRI in all hospitals, cost-effectiveness, and surgical time.

Neurosurgery, Craniotomy, IOUS, MRI