Miami brain surgery patient strummed guitar while doctors operated

MIAMI – Brain surgery is always a delicate procedure and sometimes it needs to be done while the patient is awake. For one avid guitar player – it meant showing off his skills.

Christian Nolen, 24, is used to shredding the guitar at home – but this past December he played the guitar while undergoing brain surgery to remove an aggressive tumor.

“It was mainly pressure,” Nolen said. “I could feel things moving but no pain”

The tumor was located in a delicate part of the brain that can affect hand movements.

“We performed the surgery awake to make sure we were not harming his hand function,” said Dr. Ricardo Komotar, a neurosurgeon at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

When a patient is awake during a craniotomy it requires less bone removal, it can also limit injury to surrounding brain tissue, according to Dr. Komotar. “If you don’t have the ability to do surgery awake this becomes riskier,” he said.

The procedure lasted about two and a half hours – Nolen was only awake for part of it – as his team of doctors monitored the use of his left hand.

“The patient’s completely comfortable, feels no pain and do not remember most of the procedure,” said Dr. Komotar.

Nolen does remember someone handing him the guitar- the rest was just second nature.

“I just can’t believe that that that was me,” he said.

His tumor was discovered by chance. Someone stage diving at a concert landed on him – causing his brain to swell – leading to a check up. He still has to undergo treatment including chemotherapy – but the tumor was completely removed.