Patient back home same day as brain surgery

‘RECOVERING WELL’: Patient Dean Richardson, right, with consultant neurosurgeon Adam Razak

By Simon Bristow, Co-Editor

A man has become the first patient in Hull to go home the same day after undergoing brain surgery to remove a brain tumour and part of his skull.

Dean Richardson, 61, had a tumour removed after scans showed it was growing into his skull.

Consultant neurosurgeon Adam Razak completed the surgery within two hours and, after consultation with the anaesthetist, reviewing scans and talking to Mr Richardson, discharged his patient home that night – 12 hours after he’d been taken to theatre.

Mr Richardson, who runs his own air conditioning firm, is now recovering well at his home in Hull following the removal of the benign, non-cancerous tumour and the fitting of a bespoke “plate” to cover the missing part of his skull.

Mr Razak, part of the Neurosurgical Team at Hull Royal Infirmary, said: “The neurosurgical trend ten to 15 years ago after such major surgery was to keep patients in hospital for up to five to seven days post-operatively.

“Now, I try to get all of my patients out of hospital the day after surgery, providing it’s in their best interests and is safe to do so.

“However, this patient was very fit for a man of his age and surgery went so well and without complications that there was no need to keep him in hospital for another night.”

Mr Richardson said: “Mr Razak was brilliant. I went for surgery at 8am, was out by 11.30am and up walking by 12. Mr Razak came to see me on Ward 40 and asked if I wanted to go home and, of course, I did. My son came to get me and I was home by 8pm, 12 hours after I’d been taken to theatre.

“No one wants to be lying in a hospital bed wearing ear plugs to drown out other people’s snoring so it was great to be home in familiar surroundings and I’m now recovering well.”

Mr Richardson, who keeps fits and has played squash for more than 30 years, noticed numbness in his right leg while riding his motorbike across the Arctic Circle two years ago and thought it was connected to back surgery he’d undergone in 2016.

However, tests in July 2024 revealed two tumours on different sides of his brain. Sixteen days after he’d been told about the tumours, Mr Richardson underwent the removal of the larger tumour following eight hours of surgery by Mr Razak.

Mr Richardson recovered well but then had a stroke last year. Tests to uncover the cause of the stroke revealed an undetected hole in his heart from birth. He underwent surgery to repair his heart in Leeds and, just eight weeks later, had brain surgery to remove the second tumour after scans showed it was growing into his skull.

Special 3D imaging was used to show the precise location and position of the tumour and the amount of skull which would have to be removed. A company based in Europe then created a special cutting guide, used by Mr Razak to remove the correct amount of skull before he fitted a bespoke prostheses to replace the missing section.

Mr Razak said: “These are the types of surgery the team performs, day in, day out, but this is the first time we’ve had a patient able to go home the same day.

“It makes such a difference to patients and is another level of patient care that our population can expect if they have to come to Hull for neurosurgery.”

 Mr Richardson said: “I was back playing squash within two months of brain surgery last time and I’m hoping it will be the same again this time.

“The hardest thing for me, being so active, is to sit still and recover and, last time I’d brain surgery, I was up cleaning my conservatory windows three or four days later until my sister, who’s a Major in the army, told me off.

“This time, I’m making a koi pond in my garden so all I’ll be doing, for now, is holding a hose pipe.”