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Brain aneurysm surgery in Tijuana
An aneurysm is a bulge in the wall of a brain artery. Clipping places a titanium clip across its neck to take it out of the circulation before it bleeds — or so that it does not bleed again.
Before it bleeds, and after it has
There are two very different situations. The first is the unruptured aneurysm, found on a CT angiogram or MRI ordered for something else; there is time to measure size, shape and location, calculate rupture risk and decide calmly between watching, clipping or coiling.
The second is subarachnoid haemorrhage: the worst headache of a life, sudden in onset, often with vomiting, neck stiffness and loss of consciousness. There the clock rules. The risk of rebleeding in the first days is high, and securing the aneurysm early is what changes the prognosis.
How it is done, and what decides clip versus coil
Clipping is performed through a craniotomy, most often pterional. Under the microscope the cisterns are opened to relax the brain, the parent artery is identified and proximal control obtained before the sac is touched. Only then is the neck dissected and the clip applied, with the artery and its branches checked to be patent.
Surgical clipping and endovascular coiling do not compete: they are chosen between. Location, neck morphology, patient age, an associated haematoma that must be evacuated and team availability decide. That conversation happens with the angiogram in front of us, not from a prior preference.
What the procedure involves
When it is indicated
- Subarachnoid haemorrhage from aneurysm rupture
- Unruptured aneurysm meeting risk criteria by size, shape or growth
- Aneurysm with an associated intracerebral haematoma requiring evacuation
- Wide-necked aneurysm unfavourable for coiling
- Recanalisation of an aneurysm previously treated endovascularly
- Aneurysm symptomatic from cranial nerve compression
Techniques and resources
- Titanium clips
- Operating microscope
- CT angiography and angiography
- Fine bipolar coagulation and suction
- Micro-Doppler where available
- Intensive care monitoring
Frequently asked questions about cerebral aneurysm clipping
Neither is better in the abstract. Coiling avoids opening the skull and is often preferred for posterior circulation or narrow-necked aneurysms; clipping gives a more durable exclusion and allows a haematoma to be evacuated at the same time. The decision is case by case with the angiogram in view.
Not always. Many small aneurysms are followed with periodic CT angiography. Treatment is offered when size, irregular shape, growth on serial studies, age or family history push rupture risk above the risk of treatment.
After a subarachnoid haemorrhage the cerebral arteries can contract between roughly the fourth and fourteenth day and cause ischaemia. That is why the patient stays monitored in hospital through that window even once the aneurysm is secured.
Bring your imaging and settle the question
One consultation with your MRI or CT in hand is worth more than ten internet searches. Book by phone or through the form and you will be told what is there, what it means and what your options are.