History of neurosurgery in the Armed Forces

[...]Armed Forces Medical Services has a huge duty to maintain the health of the troops, and at the same time, be a huge motivating factor to a soldier who has faith in the medical services, and goes into the combat situation with an unbinding faith that the medical services will be there when he/she may need them. [7] Provision of neuronavigation, stereotactic apparatus and operating microscope gave much needed contemporary ambience to the department at Army Hospital (Research and Referral), duly supported by imaging techniques like magnetic resonance imaging, multi-slice computed tomography, positron emission tomography, interventional and vascular radiology [Figure 15]. A number of scientific papers on stroke in the young, neurocysticercosis, high altitude related neurological problems, sequelae of boxing injuries, use of botulinum toxin for movement disorders, and many others, have appeared in national and international journals of repute. Col. Madan presented a much-appreciated paper on the management of intracerebral hematoma, during the World Congress of Neurosurgery in New Delhi in 1989, while Brig Bhatoe has presented papers at the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies Congress in Boston and Seoul, and in the Congress of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting in New Orleans. Besides neuro-trauma, a number of papers have been published on neuro-oncology, spinal tuberculosis, skull base surgery and intracranial aneurysms.