Telemedicine

Teleneurosurgery

Telemedicine in neurosurgery was historically primarily used for follow-up visits by patients who had to travel far to undergo surgery. In the last decade, telemedicine was also used for remote ICU rounding as well as prompt evaluation for acute ischemic stroke and administration of IV alteplase in conjunction with neurology. From the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a rapid surge in the use of telemedicine across all divisions of neurosurgery: vascular, oncology, spine, and functional neurosurgery. Not only for follow-up visits, but it has gained popularity for seeing new patients or following established patients regardless of whether they underwent surgery. Telemedicine is not limited to direct patient care only; there are a number of new research groups and companies focused on using telemedicine for clinical trials involving patients with neurosurgical diagnoses.