Lateral Suboccipital Retrosigmoid and Far Lateral Approaches:Various Extensions for Schwannoma, Meningioma, and Epidermoid Cyst Surgery

Abstract

The lateral suboccipital retrosigmoid approach is one of the most established approaches for accessing the posterior cranial fossa. In order to expand the surgical field, several extensions, including(1)extended craniotomy(e.g., far lateral, transcondylar, and transsigmoid approaches), (2)additional intradural osseous or bony drilling(e.g., transmeatal and suprajugular approaches), and (3)fissure dissection(e.g., suprafloccular and infrafloccular approaches), have been described. In this report, we introduce our technique for the retrosigmoid approach and review several extensions as illustrated by schwannoma, meningioma, and epidermoid cyst surgeries.