title: Management of the facial nerve in skull base surgery.
abstract: The facial nerve presents a significant obstacle to adequate surgical exposure of lesions involving the skull base. The evolution of various surgical approaches to the jugular foramen, petrous apex, and lateral facial approaches to the skull base aimed at preserving the seventh cranial nerve are reviewed. Methods and techniques in management of the intratemporal and extratemporal facial nerve are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Mattox
mesh_terms: D005154:Facial Nerve / Q000601:surgery*; D005158:Facial Paralysis / Q000534:rehabilitation / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D011182:Postoperative Care; D012886:Skull / Q000601:surgery*; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000379:methods