Do you have a chance of dying during/after brain surgery?

There's a risk for every kind of surgery. Anything can happen. My mother had a brain tumor, the size of about half her head with it's own blood supply, removed a couple years ago. She is doing well now and did mostly good in the hospital expect for a couple seizures. My mom had a great doctor and team that did the surgery. I think the chances of something happening to your brother is going to be more on how good the staff is with the surgery, but anything can still happen even when you have great staff.

I understand that it's difficult, but try to be positive and keep in mind that anything can happen. Chances are your brother will be fine though.

Every surgery has a chance of catastrophic failure.

More risk of post operative infection or hemorrhaging than dying!!

All surgery and general anaesthesia carries a risk of dying during it. Brain surgery is on the one part of the body that totally affects everywhere else, so the risk is always higher. However, the risk of death from those sort of problems that brain surgery may cure is many times greater than the surgical risk (otherwise doctors would not do the surgery).

Discuss the risks and benefits with the doctor so that you and your brother know all that is needed. Surgery these days is nowhere near as scary as it once was and survival rates are pretty high.

Of course there is a chance. The doctor should be able to estimate how much of a chance.

You can die with ANY surgery. But fewer people die all the time as the technology improves. (That being said, brain surgery is scary!)

Even surgeons today see surgery as a last resort. So the surgeon wouldn't even do the job if he didn't think your brother really needed it, and that there was a good chance of success.

Some patients who have cavernous malformations removed lose some mental capacity but in many cases they come back. So after the operation, be patient with your brother, but he'll probably be okay.

Surgery has risks death and complications. Even if it is slight, there is. But instead of being scared, spend this time wisely. Encourage, make plans. Even if complications arise, make sure your brother has things worth living for. So he will fight much harder to live.