Experimental brain stem surgery.

Few models of experimental brain stem surgery exist in the literature. Often, experiments were devised in the animal laboratory after a similar surgical procedure already had been attempted on human subjects. Many of the experiments referenced in this article were performed with the goal of delineating neuroanatomic or neurophysiologic pathways, and then this information was used to develop new techniques in the clinical arena, such as BAERs. A new model for brain stem hemorrhage is presented in this article as well as a comparison of the outcomes of open surgical evacuation, stereotactic aspiration, and control animals with pontine hemorrhages.