Abstract:

Objective   To explore feasibility of the nose, the nasal sinus, and the anterior and middle skull base operations with the help of image navigation technology, so as to avoid the vital neuro and vascular tissues of the skull base, decrease the incidence of complications and increase therapeutic effect of the operations. Methods   1250 cases were performed the operations with help of the image navigation system. Of them, 549 cases were nasal polyps sinusitis, 256 sinusitis, 68 sinus cystoma, 14 choanal atresia or adhesions, 29 traumatic orbital wall fracture or optical canal fracture, 19 CSF rhinorhea， and 315 anterior and middle skull base tumors. Results   All were successfully registered with accuracy, and some were delayed up to 30 minutes. With guidance of the image navigation system, all cases were successfully operated on without implications. Conclusion   Image navigation technology can be applied in anterior and middle skull base operations with advantages of accurately locating, clearly marking, significantly decreasing incidence of complications, and maximally removing the lesions. Accurate registering is key for success operations, therefore registering status should be checked from time to time during the surgeries.