Endoscopic Endonasal Approaches for Benign Tumors Involving the Skull Base

Abstract

With continued refinements in endoscopic image quality, instrumentation, surgical navigation, skull base closure techniques, anatomical understanding, and advanced neurosurgical and otolaryngological training, the endonasal endoscopic approach has become a well-accepted and widely utilized technique for the resection of most benign midline ventral skull base tumors. While pituitary adenomas and Rathke’s cleft cysts constitute the most common lesions removed via this route, increasing experience has led to its broader utilization for more complex lesions, including craniopharyngiomas, midline meningiomas, and schwannomas. In this article, we review the recent literature published on this topic with an emphasis on the most interesting and important new results and discoveries for each type of benign skull base tumor.