Tracing the Dural Tail with Image-Guided Surgery

Abstract

The extent of dural resection is important for preventing recurrence in meningioma management. An image-guidance assisted technique is described to perform adequate dural resection. A universal instrument adapter system for image-guidance was used to track the dural extension of the meningioma accurately. The universal instrument adapter offers the surgeon the possibility to image-guide nearly any rigid instrument via the computed calibration method. In this way a surgical marking pen was used to chase and adequately mark the "dural tail". Image-guidance systems can be used to avoid incomplete resection of the affected dura that may be responsible for tumour recurrence.