A new surgical approach to pituitary adenomas

For surgical treatment of pituitary adenomas, the traditional surgical approach is craniotomy through the pterygoid point, which has the advantages of adequate exposure and large operating space, however, it must pay the price of large trauma and many surgical complications. Currently, the single nostril naso-pterygoid approach for pituitary tumor resection has become the mainstream in the international arena, which has the obvious advantages of minimally invasiveness and fewer surgical complications. However, this approach requires a higher level of microscopic manipulation and positioning skills, as well as a better command of equipment such as operating microscopes and brain endoscopes. Doctors are responsible for “health and life”, which requires us to never stop on the road of medical development. The neurosurgery department recently admitted a female patient with a huge pituitary adenoma. It was found that the tumor had highly developed and protruded out of the saddle fossa, so that the optic nerve was obviously uplifted and compressed, and the visual acuity and field of vision were clearly impaired, and the endocrine function was seriously disturbed. In order to remove the tumor and minimize the surgical trauma, the neurosurgery department made careful preoperative discussions and preparations, and decided to resect the giant pituitary adenoma through a single-nostril naso-pterygoid approach, and reported to the hospital for filing of the first case of the new surgical procedure in this hospital. Through the joint efforts of the whole department, we successfully completed the resection of this pituitary tumor, and the patient immediately regained consciousness and recovered smoothly after the operation without any common postoperative complications of pituitary tumors such as hyperthermia, urolithiasis, and stress ulcers, etc. The review of the cranial MRI showed that the saddle septum had decreased, and the compression of optic nerves was completely relieved, and the patient’s visual acuity, visual field, and endocrine function were significantly improved compared with those of preoperative period, and she was discharged from the hospital completely cured. The successful cure of this patient with pituitary giant adenoma shows that the neurosurgery department of the hospital has made another zero breakthrough, and has taken a solid step forward in the process of surpassing itself. In the face of future development opportunities and severe challenges, the neurosurgeons will work hard, work hard again, and forge ahead, forge ahead again, as they have always done.