Skull base surgery via extended endoscopic endonasal approach: Predictors of ear-nose-throat complications.

Objective: To identify predictive factors for ear-nose-throat (ENT) complications in patients undergoing skull base surgery via extended endoscopic endonasal approaches (EEEA).

Methods: Single-center retrospective observational study of a cohort of patients who underwent EEEA for skull base surgery between January 2015 and December 2021. Patients were stratified according to ENT complications.

Results: Sixty-one patients were included in the study: 37 women (60.66%) and 24 men (39.34%). Craniopharyngioma was the most frequently observed pathology (36%). 40 patients (65,57%) presented with ENT complications, being olfactory disturbance the most common complication (40,98%), followed by nasal obstruction (24,59%) and synechiae formation (18,03%). Logistic regression analysis revealed that younger age (P = .026) and excision of middle turbinates during EEEA surgery (P = .034) were independent factors with a significant association with ENT complications. Anterior septal deviation was an independent factor significantly associated with synechiae formation (P = .023).

Conclusion: Surgeons performing skull base surgery using EEEA should be aware that excision of middle turbinate, younger age and anterior septal deviation may be risk factors for ENT postoperative complications.