Typically, a microvascular clipping surgery undergoes the following steps:
Step 1: Preparing the patient
- You will be given general anaesthesia for the procedure. Once you are asleep, the team will place your head in a three-pin skull fixation device.
- The device attaches to the operating table and holds your head in place during the surgery. Next, the team will prepare the incision area of the scalp.
Step 2: Performing a craniotomy
- The surgeon will perform a craniotomy in your skull, depending on the aneurysm location. He/she will make a skin incision to expose the skull and lift the skin and muscles off the bone.
- Next, he/she will use a drill to make small burr holes in your skull and use a special saw called a craniotome to cut an outline of the bone window.
- The bone flap is lifted to expose the dura mater (the brain’s protective covering) and kept aside safely to be reattached after the procedure.
Step 3: Exposing the aneurysm
- The surgeon opens the dura mater to expose the brain.
- He/she will use imaging tests to locate the artery and follow it to the aneurysm. The aneurysm will be separated from the nearby healthy tissue.
Step 4: Inserting the clip
- After the aneurysm is isolated from other structures, the aneurysm neck is prepared for clipping. The surgeon will hold the titanium clip with a tweezer-like applier and place it across the aneurysm neck.
- The clip’s jaws close around the aneurysm neck, pinching it off from the parent artery. The clip will remain in place to prevent future bleeding and rupture.
Step 5: Checking the clip
The surgeon will check the clip to ensure that it is not blocking the parent artery and the other arteries. He/she punctures the aneurysm dome with a needle to ensure that blood is no longer filling in the aneurysm.
An intraoperative angiography may also be performed to examine blood flow through the parent artery.
Step 6: Closing the craniotomy
After the clipping is done, the surgeon will close the dura mater with stitches. He/she will replace the removed bone flap and secure it to the skull with titanium plates and screws.
Next, the surgeon will attach the muscles and skin with sutures and place a dressing over the incision.