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Endoscopic endonasal surgery outcomes for pediatric craniopharyngioma: a systematic review
Insights
Endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) is a safe and effective treatment for pediatric craniopharyngiomas. This minimally invasive approach offers comparable or superior outcomes to traditional methods, with fewer complications.
Area of Science:
- Neurosurgery
- Pediatric Oncology
- Otolaryngology
Background:
- Craniopharyngiomas are rare tumors affecting the pituitary gland in children.
- Traditional surgical resection often involves significant morbidity.
- Endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) offers a minimally invasive alternative.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review the safety and efficacy of EES for pediatric craniopharyngiomas.
- To compare EES outcomes with traditional surgical approaches.
Main Methods:
- Systematic literature review of PubMed and MEDLINE databases (1986-2019).
- Inclusion of 13 studies comprising comparative studies, retrospective cohort studies, and case series.
- Focus on outcomes following EES for pediatric craniopharyngiomas.
Main Results:
- Endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) demonstrated safety and efficacy in pediatric craniopharyngioma resection.
- Gross-total resection was achievable with minimal complications using EES.
- Outcomes of EES were comparable, and in some cases superior, to traditional resection methods.
Conclusions:
- EES is a viable and effective alternative surgical approach for pediatric craniopharyngiomas.
- The minimally invasive nature of EES facilitates successful tumor removal with reduced complications.
- Further research, potentially including randomized controlled trials, is recommended to solidify EES's role.
Objective:
The goal of this study was to systematically review the outcomes of endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) for pediatric craniopharyngiomas so as to assess its safety and efficacy.
Methods:
A systematic literature review was performed using the PubMed and MEDLINE databases for studies published between 1986 and 2019. All studies assessing outcomes following EES for pediatric craniopharyngiomas were included.
Results:
Of the total 48 articles identified in the original literature search, 13 studies were ultimately selected. This includes comparative studies with other surgical approaches, retrospective cohort studies, and case series.
Conclusions:
EES for pediatric craniopharyngiomas is a safe and efficacious alternative to other surgical approaches. Achieving gross-total resection with minimal complications is feasible with EES and is comparable, if not superior in some cases, to traditional means of resection. Ideally, a randomized controlled trial might be implemented in the future to further elucidate the effectiveness of EES for resection of craniopharyngiomas.
