Eyebrow surgery: the supraciliary craniotomy: technical note
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Updated: Aug 6, 2026
Minimally Invasive Thumb-sized Pterional Craniotomy for Surgical Clip Ligation of Unruptured Anterior Circulation Aneurysms
Published on: August 11, 2015
George I Jallo1, László Bognár
1Department of Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21287, USA. gjallo1@jhmi.edu
Objective:
Many approaches have been recommended for the surgical treatment of anterior and middle cranial fossa lesions. The frontobasal approach and its many modifications have been proposed and developed for such situated lesions. An alternative approach is the frontolateral craniotomy through a supraciliary skin incision.
Methods:
This minimally invasive technique, a 2.5 x 3.0 cm craniotomy, just above the eyebrow through a supraciliary incision, is a simple but elegant modification of the traditional approach to the anterior cranial fossa.
Results:
A step-by-step description of the approach is offered in this report to facilitate a clear understanding of the lesions treatable with this minimally invasive technique.
Conclusion:
The supraciliary frontolateral keyhole craniotomy is a minimally invasive cosmetic approach that provides excellent exposure to a variety of intracranial lesions. This approach cannot be used for all intracranial pathologies, but is recommended for many anterior and middle cranial fossa lesions.
