The study of nerves
Neurology, the study of nerves, deals with the central nervous system, which includes the brain and the spinal cord with its supplying blood vessels. There is also the peripheral nervous system, including its connections to the muscles. The neurologists work together with specialised neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists in diagnosis and treatment.
The stroke unit
One of the most important tasks of neurology is the treatment of acute and life-threatening strokes. In most cases, a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain, which means that the affected area of the brain is no longer supplied with blood. Depending on the location of the stroke in the brain, this can lead to paralysis, speech or cognitive disorders. To prevent or minimise permanent neurological damage after a stroke, action must be taken quickly. Only if the stroke occurred less than four hours ago is lysis treatment to dissolve the blood clot, also known as a thrombus, in the blood vessel still successful, for example. In order to ensure rapid and targeted stroke therapy, special stroke treatment units, the stroke units, have been set up at large medical centres. The Stroke Unit at the University Hospital is the central care facility for the Ulm/Neu-Ulm area and treats around 1,100 stroke patients every year.
Wide range of treatments at the centres
The Neurological Clinic at the University and Rehabilitation Clinics Ulm (RKU) also treats a whole range of neurological diseases - from more common ones such as multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's disease to rare ones such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease of the nervous system in which the nerve cells responsible for muscle movement are irreversibly damaged. There is also a special medical centre for epilepsy therapy, where treatment expertise is pooled.
Interdisciplinary and networked
Neurosurgeons are also involved in many of the neurological treatments mentioned. For example, in the treatment of strokes, especially if they are caused by a cerebral haemorrhage and not by a blocked vessel, or in epilepsy therapy, where the neurosurgeons offer a highly specialised epilepsy surgery programme in which localised epileptic foci in the brain are surgically removed.
The removal of benign and malignant brain tumours and surgery on bone metastases on the spine are also important focal points of neurosurgery in Ulm.
Although the brain is well protected by the skull, external violence to the head can have a considerable impact. The treatment of the often life-threatening craniocerebral trauma resulting from this is another focus of neurosurgery. Here, too, it is important to prevent permanent damage by providing targeted treatment as quickly as possible.
