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People in India are not much aware about the fact that surgery is a significant option for curing epileptics. Dr AN Jha, director neurosurgery, Max Healthcare remarked that surgery for epilepsy has been happening for years now, but there aren’t many centers with such a facility. He added that since many people are not aware, they continue to rely on drugs even if they are not effective.
It has been more than a decade, since doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) have been doing surgery to cure epilepsy. The lack of surgical procedures is reflected by the fact that in the last ten years a very small number have undergone surgery for epilepsy at AIIMS. Dr P Sarat Chandra, associate professor neurosurgery, AIIMS revealed that over 30 percent of epilepsy cases don’t react to drugs and are medically intractable epilepsy cases which need to be evaluated for surgery.
There are approximately 8 to 10 million people suffering from epilepsy in India, according to WHO. What is worrisome is that people consult their doctors for surgery after living with epilepsy for 18 to 20 years. Dr M Gaurie Devi, president of Indian Epilepsy Society however remarked that the number of people requiring surgery is very less as one needs to ensure first whether the patient is reacting to drugs or not.
