Patient experience of craniectomy and cranioplasty version 1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring patient experience of craniectomy and cranioplasty
IRAS ID
239410
Contact name
Marcia Castiel
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Northumberland Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 13 days
Research summary
Craniectomy is neurosurgical procedure that involves removing a portion of the skull in order to relieve pressure on the underlying brain. This intervention occurs typically due to an acquired brain injury and individuals can wait some time before a consideration of whether a cranioplasty procedure will be carried out. A Cranioplasty is the surgical correction of cranial defects to restore the brain’s protection. While ample research exists on the practicalities, evolution of and materials used in cranioplasty (Corallo, De Cola, Buono, Marra, De Luca & colleagues, 2017; Khader & Towler, 2016; Abhay & Haines, 1997; Shah, Jung & Skirball, 2014), there is little research on the preoperative care and patient experience whilst waiting for cranioplasty surgery.
Preoperative anxiety is reported to be experienced by neurology, reconstructive and general surgery patients, but no studies identify the specific preoperative concerns of cranioplasty surgery patients. The most comparable research is found in patients awaiting neuro- and reconstructive surgery and their anxieties may well overlap with cranioplasty patient anxieties. However, since the surgeries are different, and research limited, cranioplasty patients could suffer from unidentified anxieties. Identifying cranioplasty patient’s specific preoperative concerns would provide the information to effectively provide required input.
Patients awaiting cranioplasty surgery at Walkergate Park have been observed to suffer anxiety, in some cases to clinical levels. By qualitatively investigating the causes of patient preoperative concerns this preliminary study aims to understand the experience of patients before cranioplasty in order to inform services and care.The study aims to recruit 8-10 participants from current patients within WGP for one 60-90 minute interview who would like to share their experience before they undergo cranioplasty. The interviews will be digitally recorded and then transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. This will allow for themes to be identified that are common between the experiences of each participant.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NE/0087
Date of REC Opinion
9 Mar 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion