Treatment
It’s difficult to say how long your child will spend on the ward. Some children are only in for several days but some stay for longer. This is usually children who need intensive after surgery.
Children’s wards can be busy and noisy places. But they tend to be more relaxed and child friendly places than adult wards and intensive care units. The nurses won’t need to do quite so many checks once your child is on the children’s ward. And you should be able to be more involved in their care.
In most children’s wards one parent or carer can stay overnight with their child. Your child’s nursing team or clinical nurse specialist will let you know what to expect.
Common immediate side effects of surgery are infection and blood collection around the operation site. This is also called a haematoma. Brain surgery can also cause swelling in the brain. Your child’s surgical team watch this closely and give treatment to reduce the swelling. But it might still cause symptoms such as:
weakness
dizzy spells
poor balance or lack of coordination
personality or behaviour changes
confusion
speech problems
fits (seizures)
Your child’s symptoms might be worse than before the operation at first. And you might notice symptoms that they didn’t have before.
This can be a difficult time for you and your family. You might worry that the operation has not worked. But symptoms usually lessen and gradually improve with time.
Your child’s surgeon can give you some idea of what to expect about recovery.
Up to 30 out of 100 (up to 30%) children can develop a set of symptoms if they have had brain surgery in an area in the back of the brain. This area of the brain is called the posterior fossa. Symptoms associated with this is called posterior fossa syndrome or cerebellar mutism syndrome. They can be very mild or severe.
Symptoms can include:
difficulty talking, as they might not speak, or their speech might be slurred or slow – this is the most common symptom
difficulty swallowing
trouble with their muscle tone and being able to move - symptoms might include your child finding it difficult to walk, or unable to sit up
unable to control their movements - they may make sudden movements that look like they’re twitching or jerking. Or you might notice their eyes moving from side to side
poor balance
weakness on one side of the body
changes in their mood and behaviour which doesn’t fit the situation or is out of character for them
Posterior fossa syndrome can develop between day one up to day 14 after surgery.
Some of the symptoms can improve but this can be slow over a few weeks or months. But some of the symptoms may not go away completely in some children.
Research is trying to find out what causes posterior fossa syndrome and the best treatments.
Children usually have dissolvable stitches to close the wound opening. These gradually disappear over 7 to 14 days, but this can take up to 6 weeks.
Some children have non dissolvable stitches or surgical clips. A nurse needs to take these out about 7 to 10 days after surgery. If your child has gone home, you and your child will either:
have a community children’s nurse visit at home
go back to the day unit or ward at the hospital they had their surgery in
go to the local children’s hospital
You’ll notice that their hair gradually grows back around the wound. This usually starts within a couple of weeks. It may not grow too much if your child has chemotherapy.
The nurses can tell you when its best for them to wash their hair after surgery. They usually have the first hair wash in hospital.
Your child might feel very tired after their surgery. This is normal. They might need to rest more often. Or nap if they have done something that involves a lot of effort for them. At first, this might be having a wash or doing exercises with the physiotherapist.
While your child is on the ward, the medical team still needs to check that they’re recovering from the surgery as expected. So they will still have neurological tests regularly. This means they might need to wake your child to do this. This can make them feel even more tired.
This tiredness could last for a couple of months, but gradually gets better the further they are away from surgery. If they have other treatment, such as chemotherapy after surgery, their tiredness is likely to worsen again. This is due to the effects of the chemotherapy on the body.
Children are very good at getting on with things, so you might find them playing with their toys sooner than you think. The play specialist will be around while they’re on the ward. They’ll get involved in helping them play and do things they would normally do.
Your child’s surgeon will talk about when they can get back to doing physical activities, such as swimming or PE at school.
Every child recovers differently from brain surgery. It also depends on whether they will need another treatment after surgery, and when this will start.
School can be a very important part of friendships for some children. Having time away can change these friendships and your child might change because of treatment side effects. Their friends may have also changed during their time apart.
Schools are very understanding and will do everything in their power to help your child settle back in. It may mean they start by going in for a few hours. And then as they recover, they can gradually build up how long they are in for. They may also be able to suggest ways that your child can keep in touch with their friends during treatment if they are able to.
Your child might need an education, health and care plan if they need specialised support to help them with their education.
It’s best to talk to your child’s clinical nurse specialist (CNS) about plans for school and education while having cancer treatment. The CNS can also communicate with or even visit the school to help support the staff in caring for your child.
Researchers are looking at the best way to support children returning to school after a brain tumour.
We have more information about school for children with cancer
Some children recover well after brain surgery. And they only need a small amount of extra help with their everyday life or at school. Other children have more problems or longer-term difficulties.
These problems depend on the area of the brain affected. Some of the long-term problems after surgery might include:
difficulty walking or moving around
learning problems
problems at school
behavioural issues
problems with speech
hormone problems
fits (seizures)
changes to how they look
There is support and help available for children who have long term problems after treatment for a brain tumour.
Go to information about follow up and late effects
It’s common for children to have more treatment after brain surgery. This might be chemotherapy, radiotherapy or targeted cancer drugs. Or they might have several treatments together. Your child’s team will let you know what to expect.
Last reviewed: 09 Nov 2026
Next review due: 09 Nov 2029
The main treatments for children’s brain and spinal cord tumours are surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Surgery is a common treatment for a brain tumour. Find out why your child has surgery, who does it and other information.
After brain surgery your child usually goes to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) or high dependency unit (HDU). Find out what's likely to happen during first few days after surgery.
Brain tumours and their treatment can cause physical and mental changes. Understanding about what they might be can help you cope.
It is essential that parents and other close family have support. Find out what is availble and who can help.
Brain tumours are the second most common type of children’s cancer in the UK. Around 420 children are diagnosed with these tumours each year in the UK.
