Epilepsy Surgery

What You Need to Know

Epilepsy surgery has been a treatment used to help control seizures for over 100 years! Improvements in modern methods have made epilepsy surgery safer and more available than ever before.

To begin, people with epilepsy need accurate and current information about treatments available to control seizures. It is important to know the following:

• Recent national survey data suggests that 56% of adults taking seizure medications report having seizures in the past year.
• Studies show that between 30 to 40% of people have drug resistant epilepsy.
• Only 5 to 10% of people with drug resistant epilepsy will achieve complete seizure control with different or more seizure medicines.
• Some types of epilepsy surgery may lead to seizure freedom and an improved quality of life in up to 80% of people with drug resistant epilepsy.

Epilepsy surgery can be overwhelming to consider. Many people are unsure if surgery can help them. Surgery needs to be considered as an option for people whose seizures are not controlled with medications, dietary therapy, or implanted devices.

Family Stories About Surgery

My Journey with Epilepsy Surgery: Bob Smith

In this video, a father talks about his son's epilepsy. Going from managed seizures, his son's seizure worsened and they went through a successful epilepsy surgery process.

Three Months After Gage's Surgery

Epilepsy Centers for Surgery

Epilepsy centers are hospitals dedicated to epilepsy treatment. They can assist with your journey to surgery and will include key members of an epilepsy healthcare team.

Who can epilepsy surgery help?

Epilepsy surgery can help many people who are experiencing continued seizures. Every person with uncontrolled seizures should discuss the possibility of epilepsy surgery with their doctor. Find out if you are a surgery candidate by talking to your doctor.