Surgeons pioneering brain surgery via the nose (From Daily Echo)

Surgeons pioneering brain surgery via the nose

4:18pm Wednesday 28th October 2009

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HAMPSHIRE surgeons are pioneering cutting-edge brain surgery that removes tumours by entering the skull through the nose.

The world-leading technique removes the need for invasive neuro-surgery that previously saw patients have their facial skeleton split, or their scalp peeled back so part of the skull could be removed on their forehead, which meant increased risks of epilepsy and stroke.

The procedure has been pioneered at Southampton General Hospital’s Wessex Neurological Centre by consultant skull base neurosurgeon Nijaguna Mathad and ENT surgeon Salil Nair.

Entering the skull entirely through the nose, they have been able to reach tumours at the base of the skull and top of the spine, using images projected onto a high definition TV in the operating theatre.

“This minimal access and maximal invasive procedure is at the cutting edge of neurosurgery,”

said Mr Mathad, who added the technique has already been used successfully.

“By using the endonasal endoscopic procedure, we were able to reach the tumour with minor disturbance to the surrounding parts of the brain and did not need to make incisions on the head, which would have resulted in a longer hospital stay.

“The patient made an uneventful recovery and was discharged from hospital within 48 hours, which was a truly short stay for such a major procedure.”

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