Dr. Pedro Roldán Ramos
Neurosurgeon · Functional neurosurgery, DBS and FUS
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Neuromodulation and functional surgery
Functional neurosurgery: epilepsy, movement and pain
Functional neurosurgery modulates nervous system circuits in order to control symptoms that do not respond to medication: refractory epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, dystonia and chronic neurogenic pain.
What is it?
Three areas, one aim: restoring function
Functional neurosurgery brings together techniques that alter the activity of brain or spinal cord circuits without removing tissue. The three main areas are: movement disorders (Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and dystonia treated with DBS), refractory epilepsy (resection of the focus, robotic SEEG, VNS) and chronic neurogenic pain (trigeminal neuralgia treated by microvascular decompression). Every case is assessed by a multidisciplinary board before surgery is recommended.
Specialties
Conditions we treat
Parkinson's disease and DBS
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease, essential tremor and dystonia. It reduces medication by up to 75% and substantially improves quality of life.
Refractory epilepsy
Resection of the epileptogenic focus, SEEG with depth electrodes, VNS and corpus callosotomy. 60–70% of selected cases become seizure-free.
Trigeminal neuralgia
Microvascular decompression (MVD/Jannetta), stereotactic radiosurgery and percutaneous rhizotomy. MVD achieves 85–90% success at 1 year.
Team
The neurosurgeons who treat it
Frequently asked questions
Answers to your questions
Which conditions does functional neurosurgery cover?
Functional neurosurgery brings together the surgical treatment of three broad areas: movement disorders (Parkinson's disease, essential tremor, dystonia), drug-resistant epilepsy and chronic neurogenic pain (trigeminal neuralgia). In every case the aim is to modulate the activity of nervous system circuits rather than to remove tissue.
What are the main techniques?
The main techniques are: deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease, tremor and dystonia; resection of the epileptogenic focus and SEEG with depth electrodes for refractory epilepsy; and microvascular decompression (MVD/Jannetta) for trigeminal neuralgia. VNS, corpus callosotomy, radiosurgery and percutaneous rhizotomy are also used depending on the case.
Where can you be treated?
In our unit: a multidisciplinary team of neurosurgeons specialising in functional neurosurgery with minimally invasive techniques (endoscopic Ultra MISS, microsurgery and robotics), intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring and a multidisciplinary board where appropriate. We care for national and international patients, with a remote second opinion before you travel.
References
What the clinical guidelines say
"Surgery should be considered in any patient with drug-resistant epilepsy after the failure of 2 adequately prescribed antiepileptic regimens. Delayed referral is one of the most relevant modifiable prognostic factors."
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Patient reviews
What our patients say
High-grade glioma
"I arrived with a glioma I had been told was inoperable. Here they reviewed it at the tumour board and offered me a plan. The surgery was a success. Four years on, I am well."
Cervical disc herniation
"For years I had a cervical disc herniation, operated on by another team with no improvement. Minimally invasive surgery gave me back my mobility and took the pain away."
International patient
"I travelled from outside Spain. The team reviewed my case before I came and gave me a clear plan. Caring people and impeccable technique."
Request information
Functional neurosurgery enquiry
Send us your investigations (EEG, MRI, neurologist reports). We assess your case at our functional board and reply within 24–48h.