Patient Education

Post-operative care

Post-operatively, patients experience some minor scalp pain from the incision, and some patients may get headaches. Pain medication is routinely prescribed.

The incision is closed with staples or sutures. In adults, these are removed one week after surgery when patients return to clinic. In children, dissolvable sutures are used to minimize procedures that might increase their anxiety. A return visit to our clinic is still scheduled for children even if there are no sutures to remove.

Lifestyle Implications

Patients take an oral anti-platelet agent, such as daily aspirin, after surgery and for the rest of their lives. This is recommended because it thins the blood, which promotes flow through the grafts. Patients who have stomach problems should use coated aspirin and take it with food. If it's still not tolerated, another drug will generally be prescribed. Birth control pills may put patients at a higher risk of having blood clotting problems, and we recommend that patients with moyamoya not use them. Alternative methods of birth control are fine.

• Pregnancy

  Patients with moyamoya are not restricted from becoming pregnant after surgical treatment. Aspirin is still recommended throughout the pregnancy. The method of delivery is up to the patient and the obstetrician, and we are always happy to communicate with the obstetrician at your request.

• Blood Pressure Management

  Moyamoya patients may require higher than normal blood pressures so we don't necessarily recommend anti-hypertensive therapy. If you are diagnosed with high blood pressure, please put your physician in touch with us before starting treatment so that the plans and goals for blood pressure treatment can be discussed and agreed upon.

• Headaches

  Headaches may or may not be related to moyamoya. Patients are often diagnosed after their physician refers them for an MRI due to headaches, but the headaches may not actually be due to moyamoya. If the characteristics of your headaches change after surgery, we should be contacted. However, long-term pain management may be recommended if you have persistent headaches after surgery.

• Non-constrictive devices

  Patients who have direct or indirect bypass grafts have a risk of closing off their grafts if they wear eyeglasses or other devices that fit too closely to their heads around the temple area. Caution must be used when wearing such items as helmets, safety glasses, masks, or any other head gear to ensure that they fit properly and do not compress the grafts.

• Long-term follow up

  Follow up tests including an angiogram, MRI, blood flow studies and neuropsychological testing are performed at 6 months, 3 years and 10 years following surgery. This is to ensure that blood flow is adequate. Unless patients have further symptoms, no other routine follow up studies are usually needed for patients who have had bilateral surgeries. For patients who have unilateral moyamoya, we recommend an annual CT angiogram to look for progression of moyamoya on the other side. However, we like our patients to contact us with an update of their progress at least once a year. If symptoms persist or recur, we want to be contacted as soon a possible.

• Other considerations and restrictions

  We recommend avoiding high speed roller coasters and sky diving. Care must be taken to avoid graft compression from face masks during snorkeling and SCUBA diving. Also, blood donation is not recommended for patients who have had surgical revascularization procedures for moyamoya. Patients should always stay well hydrated, drinking between 2-3 liters of non-caffeinated beverages each day.