Surgical pitfalls, their consequences, transient complications.

The methodology of this paper is based entirely on the experiential backgrounds of the authors. It outlines those factors which have become recognized as potentially important issues to patients who are considering recommendations of surgical treatment for their intractable epilepsy. Thus, on the one hand, it includes the important generic aspects of Informed Consent, while on the other hand there must be a very comprehensive and, when the operation is to be carried out under local anesthesia, a very detailed explanation of the preparation and the sequential steps in the surgical procedure. This should also entail a brief description of the roles of the various "team" members during the operative procedure. There are well-recognized complications associated with the various surgical procedures for the treatment of epilepsy. Further, there are predictable deficits following some of these procedures, some of which might be permanent and some of which may be transient. These pitfalls are briefly discussed.