Microsurgical experience with supraorbital keyhole operations on anterior circulation aneurysms.
OBJECTIVE
Conventional pterional approach is a commonly used neurosurgical technique for the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. However, this technique requires more extensive brain exposure than other key hole approaches and is sometimes associated with surgical traumatization or cosmetic problems. The aim of this study was to compare the postoperative outcome between pterional and supraorbital keyhole approaches in the patients with anterior circulation aneurysms.


METHODS
The authors reviewed patients with anterior circulation aneurysms who underwent aneurysm clipping via pterional or supraorbital keyhole approach at a single institute over a period of 2 years. Ninety-eight patients harboring 108 aneurysms were included in this study. Various outcomes were recorded, which included clinical grade, cosmetic problems, patients' satisfaction and complications such as chewing discomfort, frontal muscle weakness, hyposmia, infection.


RESULTS
The supraorbital approach exhibited a shorter operation time compared with the pterional approach. Complications such as chewing discomfort occurred less frequently in the supraorbital approach group. Moreover, the cosmetic outcome was significantly better in the supraorbital group than in the pterional group.


CONCLUSIONS
The supraorbital keyhole approach reduced intra- and postoperative complications, including chewing discomfort and cosmetic disturbances, compared with the conventional pterional approach.
Park
Heung Sik
HS
Department of Neurosurgery, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Incheon, Korea.
Park
Sang Kyu
SK
Han
Young Min
YM