Department of Neurosurgery

Inselspital Bern

The Department of Neurosurgery is an internationally renowned clinic for the surgical treatment of brain and spine diseases. Its clinical research commitment is driven by the need to improve and refine neurosurgical operations and perioperative management.

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Director

Prof. Andreas Raabe

Profile

  • Our clinical research commitment is driven by the need to improve and refine neurosurgical operations and perioperative management. Focusing on this area, we examine and test how to translate increasingly frequent emerging new technologies into neurosurgical practice. Another focus is clinical studies and trials to investigate different managements or treatments. In our laboratory of regenerative experimental medicine, we aim at the development and improvement of therapeutic strategies for neurodegenerative diseases.
  • Teaching profile: lectures and workshops for medical students, medical students' in-house rotations, co-organizers of the lecture series “Disease and Repair at the CNS” for master students of the GCB Bern. Mentoring for PhD students of the GCB and GHS Bern.

External Partners

Laboratory of Hemodynamic and Cardiovascular Technology, EPFL Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Schweizer Zentrum für Elektronik und Mikrotechnologie, Neuchâtel, Switzerland; Department of Neurosurgery, Freiburg University Hospital, Freiburg, Germany; Department of Neurobiology Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark

Grants

  • SNSF Grant 3 years: HORAO – Polarimetric visualization of Healthy brain fiber tracts for tumor delineation during neurosurgery
  • SNSF Grant 4 years: Early diagnosis and aetiology of critical illness myopathy
  • Krebsliga: Resurge – Randomized Controlled Comparative Phase II Trial on Surgery for Glioblastoma Recurrence
  • Bridge: Flow driven endovascular electroencephalography (endoEEG) probes for epilepsy treatment

Highlights 2025

MRI of the spine demonstrating a myxopapillary ependymoma located directly caudal to the conus medullaris at the level of L1.

Innovations and International Collaborations in Spine Surgery Research

Our spine surgery research program focuses on clinical studies with a particular emphasis on the diagnosis and management of spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH). In addition, we actively participate in international collaborations within the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) and contribute to multicenter initiatives, including the development of a database on spinal intradural tumors and the VANCO Trial, initiated in Bern, for which patient recruitment concluded this year.

Schär et al., Trials. 2025

SNSF supports the multicenter SPACE SHIELD STUDY, jointly conducted by neurosurgery and neurology

In malignant cerebral infarction, cytotoxic edema leads to life-threatening intracranial pressure, and decompressive hemicraniectomy (DCE), involving partial removal of the skull, significantly improves survival rates. After the edema subsides, a second operation involving skull reimplantation is performed weeks later, carrying additional risks such as cerebral hernia, vascular injury, and infection. Many of these risks could be prevented by an intraoperative, space-expanding protective device implanted immediately after DCE, thus eliminating the need for the second operation. Our current research project is investigating whether a single operation with an implanted protective device represents a safe alternative to the conventional two-stage treatment. The aim is to increase safety and minimize postoperative complications.

https://space-shield.ch/trial/

Intraoperative neurophysiology to protect motor function during tumor surgery

We analyzed intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IOM) data from 500 intra-axial brain tumor surgeries, the largest single center cohort for the dynamic mapping method. Our study strongly supports IOM paradigms and warning criteria during surgery of motor eloquent brain tumors under general anesthesia and reliability of the in our center developed dynamic mapping method.

Seidel et al. Clin Neurophysiol. 2025

The Department of Neurosurgery continues to investigate the role of radiological screening and new imaging techniques in the diagnosis and natural history of asymptomatic intracranial aneurysms in at-risk patients, as well as engaging in translational research on steno-occlusive cerebrovascular diseases, such as carotid stenosis, in collaboration with other departments at Inselspital and the ARTORG Center at the University of Bern. These initiatives have been recognized through peer-reviewed grants.

The DECIPHER-pmSAH project – DEtermining the Clinical Impact and Prevalence of HEmoRrhagic subtypes in perimesencephalic SubArachnoid Hemorrhage – directed by Prof Dr. med Dobrocky (Department of Neuroradiology) and co-directed by Prof. Dr. med David Bervini and Prof. Dr. med Werner Z’Graggen (Department of Neurosurgery), was awarded CHF 500,000 by the University of Bern’s Board for Strategic Funding.