Long-term survival outcomes of temporal bone resection and reconstruction at a UK tertiary skull base centre

To evaluate clinical characteristics, complications and survival outcomes in patients undergoing lateral temporal bone resection for malignancy at a tertiary skull base centre.

This retrospective cohort study analysed patients treated between 2004 and 2023 at a UK tertiary referral centre. Data collected included demographics, histological diagnosis, stage, surgical approach, reconstruction and adjuvant therapy. Complications and survival were examined using descriptive statistics, Kaplan-Meier survival curves and Cox proportional hazards modelling.

Eighty-nine patients were included (mean age, 67.2 years; 69.7 per cent male). Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was the most frequent diagnosis (58.4 per cent) and lateral temporal bone resection was the predominant procedure (73.0 per cent). Post-operative complications occurred in 25.8 per cent of patients, with haematoma the most common complication. Median follow up was 19 months. The 5-year overall survival rate was 50 per cent, with significant differences by cancer stage and patient age.

Surgical management of lateral temporal bone malignancies, predominantly SCC, carries significant morbidity, while survival and complication rates mirror published literature, with outcomes chiefly influenced by age and cancer stage rather than nodal status.