Management of cerebrospinal fluid leak during endoscopic pituitary surgery

Dural opening and closures are major steps in endoscopic pituitary surgery. Restoring the normal anatomy at the end of the procedure creates a natural barrier between the intrasellar compartment and the sinonasal cavity.

In this study, we present a relatively simple dural opening and closure technique for endoscopic pituitary surgery. This technique provides a better alternative to the use of a more complex nasoseptal flap or the multilevel closure with artificial materials as it restores the normal anatomy after the tumor removal and provides a better physiological barrier between the sinonasal cavity and the intrasellar compartment. Incision is performed in circular or horseshoe fashion leaving a small peduncle, and then the dura is reflected.

Of the 733 endoscopic transsphenoidal procedures in 667 patients conducted between January 2006 and May 2012, we used this described technique in 50 cases (7.4%). In these 50 cases with dural flap, there was no postoperative CSF leakage. Intraoperative CSF leakage was observed in 135 (20.2%) of the 667 patients. In 15 (11.1%) of these 135 patients we used the dural flap technique accompanied with fat and/or fascia lata support. There was no postoperative leakage in these patients. In the remaining 120 (89.9%) patients who had intraoperative CSF leakage, we used fat and/or fascia lata for the reconstruction of the sella floor. But we observed postoperative CSF leakage in 12 (10%) of the 120 patients without the dural flap which were reoperated.

The dural flap technique we employ has several advantages. First of all, it allows optimal physiological reconstruction after the surgery. Secondly, the bridge between the flap and the main dura helps maintain the vascular supply, which in turn can radically shorten the healing time. Thirdly, this technique is obviously a better alternative to the time consuming and expensive multilevel closures with tissue sealants and artificial grafts.