title: Piezosurgical lateral suboccipital craniectomy and opening of the internal auditory canal in the rat.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Rotating burs (RB), routinely used in skull base and cerebellopontine angle (CPA) surgery for craniotomy and opening of the internal auditory canal (IAC) carry some risks for neurovascular tissue due to their rotating power. This paper describes the use of piezosurgery (PS), which selectively cuts bone with preservation of soft tissue, in lateral suboccipital craniectomy and opening of the IAC in the rat.
  
  
  METHODS
  A lateral suboccipital craniectomy and opening of the bony IAC were performed with the Mectron® piezosurgical device under microsurgical conditions in the anesthezised rat. The piezosurgical device was evaluated with respect to practicability, safety, preciseness of craniectomy and IAC opening, and preservation of adjacent neurovascular tissue. The operation procedure is described in detail.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The present work shows that PS allows easy, safe and precise bone cutting with no injury to neurovascular tissue, such as dura, transverse or sigmoid sinus, brain, and cranial nerves. No complications were noted during the procedure. Due to the absence of rotating power near neurovascular structures the drilling process was easy and comfortable for the surgeon.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PS proved to be a safe, precise and easy to handle tool to perform suboccipital craniectomy and opening of IAC in the rat. Since PS makes the drilling process safer and more comfortable compared to a rotating bur it may be used instead of rotating burs in all scientific applications in animal models where a safe removal of bone near delicate nervous or soft tissue structures is essential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery Albert Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany - juergen.grauvogel@uniklinik-freiburg.de.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Grauvogel
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Grauvogel
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaminsky
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002530:Cerebellopontine Angle / Q000601:surgery*; D003399:Craniotomy / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D007758:Ear, Inner / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D019291:Skull Base / Q000601:surgery*; D013525:Surgical Instruments