Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026
Minimally Invasive Thumb-sized Pterional Craniotomy for Surgical Clip Ligation of Unruptured Anterior Circulation Aneurysms
Published on: August 11, 2015
Microsurgical experience with supraorbital keyhole operations on anterior circulation aneurysms
Heung Sik Park1, Sang Kyu Park, Young Min Han
1Department of Neurosurgery, Incheon St. Mary's Hospital, The Catholic University of Korea, Incheon, Korea.
Objective:
Conventional pterional approach is a commonly used neurosurgical technique for the treatment of cerebral aneurysms. However, this technique requires more extensive brain exposure than other key hole approaches and is sometimes associated with surgical traumatization or cosmetic problems. The aim of this study was to compare the postoperative outcome between pterional and supraorbital keyhole approaches in the patients with anterior circulation aneurysms.
Methods:
The authors reviewed patients with anterior circulation aneurysms who underwent aneurysm clipping via pterional or supraorbital keyhole approach at a single institute over a period of 2 years. Ninety-eight patients harboring 108 aneurysms were included in this study. Various outcomes were recorded, which included clinical grade, cosmetic problems, patients' satisfaction and complications such as chewing discomfort, frontal muscle weakness, hyposmia, infection.
Results:
The supraorbital approach exhibited a shorter operation time compared with the pterional approach. Complications such as chewing discomfort occurred less frequently in the supraorbital approach group. Moreover, the cosmetic outcome was significantly better in the supraorbital group than in the pterional group.
Conclusion:
The supraorbital keyhole approach reduced intra- and postoperative complications, including chewing discomfort and cosmetic disturbances, compared with the conventional pterional approach.
