The use of image guidance in avoiding vascular injury during trans-sphenoidal access and decompression of recurrent pituitary adenomas

Repeat trans-sphenoidal surgery for pituitary adenomas is fraught with the risk of injury to the internal carotid artery that can occur either while incising scar tissue in the sphenoid sinus/sells or during tumour decompression. The ensuing complications can be devastating and difficult to manage within the limited confines of the bony sells and sphenoid sinus, and more so when the local anatomy is distorted by previous surgery. This article highlights complications involved in repeat trans-sphenoidal pituitary surgery and outlines the role of image-guided surgery in avoiding them. With the use of modalities like Doppler sonography and neuronavigation, the position of the ICA can be determined accurately in all cases. (C) 2011 European Association for Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery.