• Giuseppe E Umana, Resi Pucci, Paolo Palmisciano, Andrea Cassoni, Luca Ricciardi, Santino O Tomasi, Lidia Strigari, Gianluca Scalia, and Valentino Valentini.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Cannizzaro Hospital, Trauma Center, Gamma Knife Center, Catania, Italy. Electronic address: umana.nch@gmail.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2022 Jan 1; 157: 193-206.e2.

BackgroundAnterior skull base (ASB) fractures are reported in 4% of head injuries and represent 21% of all skull fractures. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks may follow, severely exacerbating outcomes. We systematically reviewed the literature to analyze and compare the roles of endoscopic surgery, open surgery, and combined approaches in the management of CSF leak repair after posttraumatic ASB fractures.MethodsPubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched in accordance with the PRISMA guidelines. Studies reporting clinical data of patients with CSF leaks after ASB fracture were reviewed, focusing on management strategies and posttreatment outcomes.ResultsWe included 29 articles comprising 888 patients. The average age at diagnosis was 34 years (range, 18-91 years), with a male predominance (54%) and a male/female ratio of 2.9:1 (647:241). Clinical data were available for 888 patients with CSF leaks after ASB fracture, reporting a median follow-up time of 33.5 months (standard deviation, ±29; range, 0.5-330.0 months). Open surgical repair was the most common approach (67.9%), followed by endoscopic surgical repair (32.1%). The endoscopy cohort showed lower rates of complications (0.7% vs. 11.1%) and fistula recurrence (2.8% vs. 5.3%) compared with open surgery.ConclusionsASB fractures are frequently treated as late surgery, 24 hours from injury or later, especially for endoscopic surgery. Overall, the endoscopic approach is preferred, mostly because of its safety and effectiveness, offering lower failure rates than does open surgery.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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