Stereotactic radiosurgery for malignant brain tumors: the patient's perspective

Stereotactic radiosurgery is a relatively new approach used to treat primary malignant brain tumors. Radiosurgery delivers a single-fraction, high dose irradiation to a limited target volume of tissue. Stereotactic radiosurgery was conceived to be more analogous to conventional surgery than to conventional radiotherapy. Eight patients who had primary malignant brain tumors were purposefully sampled to participate in this phenomenology study in an effort to describe the experience and meaning of the treatment from the patient's perspective. Using Colaizzi's phenomenological technique, five potential themes emerged from the interviews obtained. They are; (1) A willingness of patients to undergo treatment again, (2) self-directed education regarding the treatment method, (3) an ability to verbalize the prognosis for their tumor type, (4) the lack of discomfort during treatment and (5) the fact that this treatment was not originally a treatment option. Additional studies need to be conducted with patients undergoing stereotactic radiosurgery for vascular and nonmalignant conditions. Implications for nursing practice include an understanding of what the experience means to patients. Teaching plans that focus on the patient's needs have been developed as a result of this study.