Welcome to the Neuroanesthesia Section of the Anesthesia Consultants of Indianapolis. The section was created to facilitate the advanced neurosurgical procedures performed at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital. This is accomplished by ensuring the availability of 13 experienced anesthesiologists with a special interest in neurosurgical anesthesia. The section is co-chaired by Dr. Sylvia Kenner and Dr. Gregory Henderson with a combined experience of over 65 years providing anesthesia for neurosurgical cases.
The anesthesiologists specialize in complicated neurosurgical procedures and those requiring anesthetic adjustments to maximize the benefit of special intraoperative neurophysiologic monitoring, imaging guidance, intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging modalities and Neurotrac-compressed EEG monitoring for complex intracranial vascular procedures.
IUH Methodist is the largest Level 1 trauma center and tertiary referral center in the state of Indiana. Our section excels in providing the most up to date, evidence-based techniques to optimize outcomes in patients with traumatic head injury and acute spinal cord injury.
Last year we provided neuroanesthetic services for more than 2670 cases, which included the following types of neurosurgical procedures:
- Brain Tumors
- Intracranial Vascular Procedures
(e.g., aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, and intracranial bypass) - Epilepsy Surgery
- Spinal Cord Tumors
- Spinal Deformity Correction
(e.g., Scoliosis, Kyphosis) - Spine Trauma and Instability Correction
- Functional Neurosurgery for Movement Disorder and Parkinson’s disease
- Peripheral Nerve and Cranial Nerve Decompression
- Baclofen and other Spinal Medication Pumps and Stimulators
- Neurointerventional Procedures including Level 1 Stroke Care
- Complex Spinal Fusions for Stenosis
- Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunting
- Newer minimally invasive procedures
(e.g., Brain Path, Laser Ablations of epileptogenic foci) - Skull Based Procedures
(Which are sometimes done in combination with Otolaryngology)
The section is committed to the next generation of anesthesiologists. Section members are responsible for training Indiana University School of Medicine Graduate Anesthesia Residents during their subspecialty month in Neuroanesthesia. We provide intense, direct one-on-one supervision and instruction to the residents. The act of teaching actively engages section members with current developments in the subspecialty of neuroanesthesia, and is consistently rated one of the best rotations in the 4 years of anesthesia training by residents.
Every anesthesiologist in the section is a member of the Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care (SNACC). This subspecialty professional society is an invaluable resource in keeping abreast of the developments in neuroanesthesia through annual meetings and the SNACC bimonthly Journal of Neurosurgical Anesthesiology.
