Possible outcomes after surgery

• The seizures are all localized to a part of the brain and there is no function - resection can take place.
• The seizures are not localized to a part of the brain and there is no clear function - no resection can be performed.
• The seizures are localized to a part of the brain and there is important function - the patient could become seizure free but would be left with major impairments (i.e. not able to speak, paralyzed, etc.). Almost always, the decision would be not to operate in this case. However, on some occasions when seizures are devastating, the patient may choose to be left with a deficit (e.g. paralysis of one side of the body) in order to control the seizures.

This will depend on the type of surgery that was performed and the particular brain location.
The following table shows percentages of seizure freedom or significant improvement by each type of surgery:
• Lesionectomy: 60-80%
• Temporal lobectomy: 60-80 % 
• Frontal, parietal and occipital lobectomy: With clear lesion: 60-80%, without clear lesion 30-60%
• Hemispeherectomy: 50-80%
• Corpus callosotomy: 50-70% for drop attacks