Suboccipital surgical approach to the cerebellopontine angle and internal auditory canal

The suboccipital craniectomy done with the patient in the prone position using modern microsurgical methods gives good anatomical exposure essential for efficient, accurate, total removal of cerebellopontine angle neoplasms and allows adjacent, uninvolved neurological structures to be spared. Modifying the anatomical exposure by varying the size and shape of the osseous craniectomy and placing the dural incision closer to the porus acousticus permits extradural retraction of the cerebellum. Thus large cerebellopontine angle neoplasms can be excised with less chance of damage to the cerebellum and smaller risk of hydrocephalus. The suboccipital craniectomy may be extended anteriorly to the facial nerve, thereby combining the suboccipital with the translabyrinthine approach, and providing a more direct angle to a large neoplasm involving the brain stem and cerebellum.