Dr Antony Thomas - Neurosurgeon

19/05/2026

15/05/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1PQfNEV5FJ/

Pretoria biker Jason Kilian makes strong progress in rehab
Read more here: https://www.citizen.co.za/rekord/news-headlines/2026/05/14/pretoria-biker-jason-kilian-makes-strong-progress-in-rehab/

21/04/2026

Established in 1996, our practice has undergone many name changes over the years, but our commitment to quality service has remained unwavering. We strive to provide comprehensive care by treating our patients holistically, focusing on their overall well-being rather than just a specific body part.

Contact us today to schedule your appointment—no doctor referral needed!

📞 053 832 8797
🛜 www.kimberleyphysio.co.za
📍82 Mac Dougall st, Eltoro Park, Kimberley

20/04/2026

Reading a CT Head for Bleeding

Lemon vs. Banana-Identify the hemorrhage in 5 seconds!

1.Epidural Hematoma (EDH) - The "Lemon" / Hemlock

Appearance: A bright white, convex (bulging outward) shape. It looks like a Lemon.

Vessel: Usually due to a tear in the Middle Meningeal Artery.

Classic Sign: The Lucid Interval. The patient gets hit, passes out, wakes up feeling perfectly fine, and then suddenly collapses and dies a few hours later.

Emergency: Needs immediate surgery to release the pressure!

2. Subdural Hematoma (SDH) - The "Banana" / Smile

Appearance: A bright white, concave (crescent-shaped) curve along the skull. It looks like a Banana or a Crescent Moon.

Vessel: Due to the tearing of Bridging Veins.

Patient: Common in elderly people who fall or in chronic alcoholics. The bleeding is slower because it is venous.

3. Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (SAH) - The "Star of Death"

Appearance: Bright white blood filling the cisterns and sulci in the center of the brain. It looks like a white Starfish.

Classic Sign: "The worst headache of my life.

Cause: Usually a ruptured brain Aneurysm

18/04/2026

18/04/2026

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive, non-surgical procedure that uses heat to temporarily disable nerves transmitting chronic pain from neck or back facet joints, often providing relief for 6 to 18 months. It is commonly used for arthritis or chronic pain when conservative treatments fail, offering improved function and reduced medication dependency with minimal recovery time.

Key Aspects of RFA for Neck/Back Pain
How it Works: Under X-ray guidance, a specialist inserts a needle to the targeted nerve and uses heat to create a lesion, preventing pain signals from reaching the brain.

Targeted Conditions: RFA is highly effective for chronic facet joint pain (arthritis), whiplash injuries, and degenerative disc disease in the spine.
Effectiveness and Duration: Pain relief can last 6–18 months, or in some cases, a few years. It is not permanent because nerves can regenerate.

Procedure Details: The 30–60 minute outpatient
Procedure involves local anesthesia and sometimes mild sedation.

Recovery: Most patients walk out the same day and return to normal activities within a few days.

Risks and Considerations
While generally safe, potential, though rare, side effects include temporary increased pain, infection, bleeding, and nerve damage. The procedure is generally not recommended for pregnant women, those with unstable joints, or infections.

Steps to Procedure
Diagnostic Block: Doctors first confirm the nerve causing pain using diagnostic medial branch blocks.
Ablation: If the block provides temporary relief, the RFA is performed.
Repeatability: The procedure can be repeated if the pain returns.

https://www.hss.edu/health-library/conditions-and-treatments/radiofrequency-ablation

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for trigeminal neuralgia is a minimally invasive, outpatient procedure that uses heat to damage the trigeminal nerve, disrupting pain signals to the brain. It is highly effective, providing over 80% pain relief at six months for many patients, and is ideal for those who cannot tolerate surgery or medicine.

Procedure Details
Method: A thin, hollow needle electrode is inserted through the cheek to the base of the skull, often guided by X-ray (fluoroscopy).
Anesthesia: Performed under local anesthesia with sedation, allowing the patient to wake up to confirm the correct nerve location is being treated, ensuring pain relief.
Ablation: High-frequency radio waves generate heat to treat the specific nerve fibers causing pain.
Duration: It is a quick procedure that can often be completed in an outpatient setting.

Effectiveness and Success Rates
High Success Rate: RFA has been shown to offer long-term relief to patients with chronic trigeminal neuralgia.
Pain Reduction: Studies indicate that RFA can reduce pain by over 80% in most patients at the 6-month mark.
Long-Term Results: Over 60% of patients continue to report positive outcomes even two years later.

Potential Complications
While generally safe, RFA for trigeminal neuralgia has a low rate of complications, which may include:

Temporary facial numbness (a common intended effect to stop pain).
Facial swelling or hematoma.
Weakness of the jaw (masticatory muscle weakness).
Corneal numbness.
Temporary nausea or headache
Candidate Profile
This procedure is best suited for individuals who:
Have failed to respond to medication.

Are NOT suitable candidates for more invasive surgeries (like microvascular decompression).
Have idiopathic trigeminal neuralgia.

https://www.uclahealth.org/medical-services/neurosurgery/dbs/treatment-options/radiofrequency-ablation

01/04/2026

CONGRATULATIONS ◾ Prof Binu Luke is well-known as a community worker and as Head of the Clinical Department at Tshepong hospital.

He left the hospital this week to assume his new position as the chief director, professor and head of the new Desmond Tutu School of Medicine at the NWU as of Wednesday April 1.

His role will be to provide strategic leadership, academic management, and operational direction for the School of Medicine, aligning with the university’s mission, transformation goals, and research objectives.

Klerksdorp/Tshepong Tertiary Hospital will serve as a key clinical training site. Prof Luke joined the hospital on May 8 1996, and build a career spanning three decades subsequently obtaining a Fellowship of the College of Physicians of South Africa and Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians.

The Desmond Tutu School of Medicie is the 11th medical school in South Africa and the programme is slated for its first intake of students in 2028.

28/03/2026

March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, led by the Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA) to educate the public on the causes, impact, and prevention of traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The campaign highlights the needs of survivors and families, focusing on prevention strategies like helmet use, reducing falls, and supporting rehabilitation.

Key aspects of Brain Injury Awareness Month include:

Theme and Focus: Campaigns often highlight that not all injuries are visible, focusing on the long-term, daily life impacts of TBI.

Prevention and Education: Efforts promote the use of safety equipment (helmets, seat belts) and educating athletes, coaches, and parents on concussion recognition, such as with the CDC’s "Heads Up" initiative.

Support and Advocacy: The month, often observed in March (and June in Canada), aims to raise funds, improve care, and reduce the stigma for survivors.

"Unmasking Brain Injury": A prominent project where survivors create masks to represent their experiences, with many local alliances holding displays.

Resources: Organizations like the BIAA offer webinars, blogs, and toolkits for people to share their personal stories of recovery, as noted on this page for BIAA.

https://biausa.org/public-affairs/public-awareness/brain-injury-awareness

For 2026, the campaign continues to emphasize the need for specialized care and support systems for veterans and civilians.

Suffering a traumatic brain injury - a staple of combat for U.S. troops in the last two decades - appears to increase the risk of developing brain cancer later in life, a major medical study found.

The study published in JAMA Network Open, an American Medical Association publication, looked at nearly two million post-9/11 veterans with mild, moderate/severe and penetrating traumatic brain injuries or TBIs.

The findings suggest that veterans experiencing moderate or severe TBIs were 90% more at risk for developing subsequent brain cancer than those who never suffered a TBI while those with penetrating TBIs were more than three times as likely to develop cancer. For veterans with mild cases of TBI - the most common diagnosis - their injuries were not associated with brain cancer later on.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2815179

Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital