HOUSTON - Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is convalescence of implant surgery on his skull - another milestone in his recovery from an assassination attempt - while physicians focus on the next stages of rehabilitation.
Doctors on Wednesday has developed an implant made of plastic in place to fully cover its brain, according to a statement of TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital.
Giffords is "recovering well after his surgery today", said a statement from the hospital.
Thursday, the hospital has provided a briefing to give an update on his health and to discuss the next stages of rehabilitation.
An armed man his shot in the head more than four months ago, in Tucson, Arizona, and doctors had remove part of his skull to relieve pressure on his brain.
Husband of astronaut Giffords, Mark Kelly, is in orbit around Earth on the space shuttle Endeavour and gets the updates on his condition, NASA said.
Physicians familiar with the procedure and not involved in the care that she said that it is quite common, will considerably improve quality of life and help him feel more normal.
"It is a very important step in the recovery," said Dr. Robert Friedlander, Chairman of neurosurgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Implant - or os as doctors say part - protect the brain and skull, Friedlander said. It will enable the Giffords to move freely without his helmet decorated with the flag of State of Arizona, for the first time, since she started therapy at the end of January.
In addition, it is easier therapy because the helmet can be uncomfortable and cumbersome, said Friedlander.
Dr. Reid Thompson, Chairman of neurological surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, said that there is also a psychological important to remove the helmet.
"They look in the mirror and they see someone who has been injured or killed." "They look normal", Thompson said.
The flap itself is custom, manufactured slide perfectly in place based on a model in three dimensions of the skull built from a CT image, Thompson said. Usually, the implant is clear plastic or white and tightened in place with titanium screws.
Bill Kolter, a spokesperson for Biomet, the manufacturer of the Gifffords implants, said that the material is porous to allow bones to merge the edges of the object in the future.
"It will look similar to everyone and to walk in the street you know." A said Thompson.
Even the shunt - or tube - placed at the top of the Giffords to drain the excess fluid of the spinal column of his brain will not ruin the image, Friedlander said.
This tube, which is permanent, is usually placed in the front of the head and is only a small bulge under the skin, usually hidden by the hair. Tube drained fluid into the abdomen.
"Externally... once the swelling has disappeared, his head will be pleasant and how it has been,"Friedlander said.""
Early on, doctors were surprised to the survival of the Giffords, but its recovery also.
Within weeks of arriving at TIRR Memorial Hospital at the end of January, the Giffords family and staff reported that she could speak a few words, and then sing the songs and together strings of short sentences. In March, she was able to walk with assistance, according to his doctors and his personality was conspicuous by.
Monday, according to his staff, she said "good stuff, good stuff," while watching her husband in the space rocket.
Still, doctors of custody that she has a long recovery ahead of him and spoke repeatedly reaching a new "normal".
Operation on Wednesday is seen as fairly common, although there is a 1 percent probability of bleeding or infection, Thompson said.
Infection, normally resulting from the introduction of a foreign body, would be not apparent for a few weeks, but bleeding may occur in surgery where doctors lifted the skin to reach the open area, added Friedlander.
Yet doctors say that it was not necessary to have Kelly on Earth to go ahead with the surgery.
Can not only closing the hole mitigate some of the headaches associated with brain injury, it helps to prevent future damage, Thompson said.
The operation itself is only about 90 minutes. From beginning to end, including the recovery of anesthesia and pre-operating of preparations, the procedure will not more than three hours, doctors say.
And once it is finished, the actual countdown to the release of the Giffords will begin, they added.
"It is in fact perhaps very soon," said Thompson.
