Video-EEG monitoring can record all the patient's typical seizure manifestations. If the recordings all have unilateral onset, then surgery may be successful. Not all patients whose seizures are resitstant to medical therapy can be helped by surgery. The involvement of functionally important brain areas of both sides of the brain in the seizure onset, often excludes a surgical treatment. Trials of newer antiepileptic medications are available to patients where surgery is unavailable.
Neuropsychology can localize an area of function loss in the brain.
This area of dysfunction is strongly correlated in epilepsy with the area of seizure onset. Explaining epilepsy surgery can be complicated. Many concerns about the possible difficulties from the surgery are not able to be answered prior to the monitoring admission.