• Buruc Erkan, Suat Demir, Ebubekir Akpinar, Ozan Hasimoglu, Fikret Baskan, Musa Cirak, Lutfi Sinasi Postalci, Osman Tanriverdi, and Omur Gunaldi.
• Department of Neurosurgery, University of Health Sciences, Basaksehir Cam and Sakura City Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: burucerkan@hotmail.com.
• World Neurosurg. 2024 Sep 1; 189: e1098e1108e1098-e1108.

BackgroundRhinorrhea is a common complication after endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal pituitary surgery (EETPS). This study evaluates the effectiveness of our sellar reconstruction technique in preventing rhinorrhea.MethodsFrom June 2020 to March 2024, a surgical team performed 490 EETPS procedures on 458 pituitary adenoma patients. Demographic data, surgery status, and radiological and histopathological classifications were retrospectively analyzed. 4 grades for sellar reconstruction were defined based on intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage and diaphragm sella defect size. Grade 0: no CSF leakage; cavity filled with absorbable material. Grade 1: small defect; covered with fat and fascia lata grafts. Grade 2: large defect; added lumbar drainage. Grade 3: extended approach; added nasoseptal flap.ResultsOf the 490 operations, 433 were primary and 57 recurrent. Patients were 50.2% male, mean age 49.01 years. Follow-up averaged 20.5 months. Postoperative rhinorrhea occurred in 8 cases (1.6%). In 404 surgeries (82.5%) without intraoperative CSF leakage, 3 cases (0.7%) developed postoperative rhinorrhea. CSF leakage was detected in 86 cases (17.5%), with postoperative rhinorrhea in 5 cases (5.8%). The risk of rhinorrhea was 8.3 times higher with intraoperative CSF leakage (P = 0.005). Rhinorrhea rates: 0.7% in Grade 0, 3% in Grade 1, 8.7% in Grade 2, and 0% in Grade 3 (P = 0.017). Meningitis occurred in 8 patients (1.7%) and pneumocephalus in 4 (0.9%), with one death (0.2%). The average hospital stay was 17.4 days with rhinorrhea and 5.2 without (P = 0.024).ConclusionsIntraoperative CSF leakage is highly correlated with rhinorrhea. Multilayered and graded closure strategies significantly reduce postoperative rhinorrhea rates in EETPS.Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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