Epilepsy Treatments and Procedures
Medical Therapy
- Antiseizure medications. Medication is the first line of therapy for treating patients with epilepsy. We will work with you to select the appropriate medication tailored to your lifestyle and needs.
Surgical Treatments
Devices
We use devices for patients whose seizures are not well controlled with medication.
- Vagus nerve stimulator (VNS). VNS is a small device implanted under the skin in the chest which sends small electrical impulses to the left vagus nerve to improve seizure control.
- Deep Brain Stimulator (DBS). Electrodes are implanted into a specific part of your brain and connected to a generator implanted under the skin in the chest. The generator regularly sends electrical impulses to your brain at timed intervals to improve seizure control.
- Responsive neurostimulator (RNS). Surgeons implant the RNS device into the skull. Electrodes placed on the brain detect abnormal electrical activity. The RNS device then responds by delivering electrical stimulation to normalize brain activity at the onset of seizures.
Surgery
- Minimally invasive epilepsy surgery. For some patients, we offer a minimally invasive technique called laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT), also known as laser ablation. Using computer-guided navigation, this technique allows the surgeon to attempt to eliminate the seizure focus without invasive surgery.
- Traditional epilepsy surgery. For many people with epilepsy, their best chance of becoming free of seizures is to identify and safely remove the area of the brain where their seizures originate.