Preventing Surgical Complications During Microscopic Fenestration in Middle Fossa Arachnoid Cysts: A Retrospective Study for 38 Cases and Literature Review
Abstract Purpose Middle fossa arachnoid cyst (MFAC) is one of the most common cranial cysts in children. The various postoperative complications following cyst fenestration are still the major concern for most surgeons. We systemically review the short-term postoperative complications in the literature and introduce our experience in preventing these complications.Methods A retrospective survey was conducted on the 38 cases of patients having MFAC (<14 years old) who underwent microscopic fenestration from January 2019 to December 2020. Short-term postoperative complications including postoperative hemorrhage/hematoma, subdural hygroma (SH), cranial nerve palsy, and central nervous system infection (PCNSI), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak were collected. A systematic PubMed search for cohort studies of surgically treated MFAC published from 2000 was performed. The short-term postoperative complications in the included studies were illustrated.Results The overall complication rate in our series is 5.2%. Eight patients (21.1%) developed postoperative SH. One of them required reoperation. Patients who developed SH were significantly younger (4.1±1.6 versus 6.2±3.4 y.o., p=0.018). Binary logistic analysis showed that a lower age could be a risk factor for developing SH (P=0.115). No postoperative hemorrhage, cranial nerve palsy, or CSF leak was observed. In the systemic review, eighteen studies were included, comprising 649 cases of MFAC. The most common complication was SH (4.9%). The short-term postoperative complication rate between microscopic and endoscopic techniques was similar.Conclusion The complication rate in MFAC fenestration is low in children. SH is the most common postoperative complication, and it is prone to occur in young children.