In recent years, surgeons have developed highly lesser invasive brain surgery, which removes bone instead of brain, to minimize collateral damage. Transsphenoidal surgery is performed to remove tumors from the pituitary gland, sellar region, and sphenoid sinus of the skull. The surgeon approaches the pituitary through the nose. The surgery can be performed with a microscope or more commonly with an endoscope in a minimally invasive technique. Pituitary tumors cause a variety of hormone problems and can grow to large size, compressing important nerves and arteries at the base of the brain.
When this occurs, surgery is needed to remove the tumor, especially when vision is at risk. Tumor removal often reverses endocrine problems and restores normal hormone balance. Neurosurgeons started using endoscopes in pituitary-tumor surgeries about 20 years ago. Then, in the last decade, they began…
