[Neurosurgery in conscious patients: forward to the past]

We present an analytical review of various neurosurgical interventions in conscious patients. An analysis of the literature indicates growing interest in this problem. Craniotomy in conscious patients has been extensively used in resection of space-occupying cerebral lesions in the eloquent hemispheric areas and in epilepsy surgery. In recent years, there have been a number of reports on interventions in conscious patients with other neurosurgical pathologies, which may be regarded as a new emerging tendency in neurosurgery and neuroanesthesiology. Neurosurgery in conscious patients provides a special advantage because it enables highly functional neuromonitoring without use of complex devices.