Brain, spine and nerve treatment from Nigeria

Send the scan itself, not a photograph of the scan

The most common reason a neurological review stalls is imaging that cannot be read properly. A neurologist or neurosurgeon needs the MRI or CT as the original digital study on disc or as files (the full sequences, not a printed film and certainly not a phone picture of a light box), because the detail that changes a recommendation is often in a sequence nobody thought to print. Alongside it: the radiologist's report, an EEG where epilepsy is the question, and a written history of when symptoms began, how they have changed and which drugs were tried at what dose. With that material a specialist can usually say whether the advised operation is a reasonable answer to your problem, which alternatives deserve weighing against it, and which questions to put to your doctor in Nigeria. Where a physical examination is required first, you will be told that rather than handed a confident guess.

This corridor is not an emergency route, and we will say so

A stroke in progress, a head injury deteriorating by the hour or a sudden collapse belongs in a Nigerian hospital now, not in a visa queue. Nigerian nationals apply in person for the Indian medical visa at the High Commission in Abuja or the Lagos consulate, the file needs an invitation letter from a hospital that has already accepted the case, and every routing to India carries at least one stop. In practice that is weeks, and no facilitator can compress it. Where India makes sense in neurology is planned work: a tumor that has been imaged and needs a considered surgical opinion, drug-resistant epilepsy that warrants a structured workup, a movement disorder being assessed for a device, a spinal problem where surgeons disagree with one another. If you write to us in an emergency, the most useful thing we can do is tell you that plainly and quickly.

Planning the journey for a patient who cannot travel alone

Many neurological patients travel with weakness, unsteadiness, seizures that are not fully controlled, or memory that is not what it was. The journey is not short either, since there has been no direct Nigeria–India flight since the Lagos–Mumbai service ended in 2024, so expect a stop at Addis Ababa, Doha, Dubai or Nairobi. That makes the attendant part of the medical plan rather than an afterthought. Their documents go into the same in-person application as yours; medication travels in hand luggage in its original packaging with prescriptions and a doctor's letter, in quantities that cover a delay; the transit is chosen for a manageable layover rather than the lowest fare; and assistance is arranged at every airport in advance. Tripcuro books the routing, the pickup and accommodation within reach of the hospital, so nobody is negotiating an unfamiliar city at three in the morning.

What a neurological quote should spell out

Neurology and neurosurgery bills carry items that surprise people who were shown only a surgery figure. Ask what the quote assumes about intensive care days, intraoperative monitoring, navigation or microscope charges where they apply, implants such as a shunt or a stimulator named and priced individually, the scans repeated after surgery, and the days of inpatient rehabilitation. For an epilepsy workup, ask specifically how the monitoring period is billed, because that is the item most likely to run longer than planned. We ask hospitals to write all of it out before you travel and to lock the rates; the hospital then invoices you directly and is paid directly by you, while our published fee arrives on its own invoice so that no part of it can sit hidden inside a clinical line.

Following up from Nigeria after brain or spine surgery

Neurological follow-up is long, and most of it happens at home. Before you fly back you should be leaving with the operative note, the histopathology where tissue was removed, the post-operative imaging, the medication plan with a schedule for any dose changes, the seizure or symptom advice in writing, and a named point of contact for questions that come later. That pack is what allows a neurologist in Lagos, Abuja, Kano or Enugu to take over without starting the assessment again. We ask for it as part of discharge rather than chasing it afterwards, keep our own copy of your file, and stay reachable once you are home. A question about tapering a drug six weeks after you land is still part of what you paid for.

What to prepare

• Your MRI or CT as the original digital study on disc, together with the radiologist's report, not printed films alone
• A written timeline of the symptoms: when they began, how they have changed, and what makes them better or worse
• EEG reports and a seizure diary where epilepsy is the question, including which drugs failed and at what doses
• A current medication list with doses, and a note of anything stopped because of side effects rather than lack of effect
• A referral letter from your Nigerian hospital plus certified bank statements, both of which the in-person visa file needs
• The name of the family member who will travel as attendant, since their papers are prepared alongside yours from the start