Advances in endoscopic sinonasal and anterior skull base surgery

Endoscopic transnasal surgery is rapidly replacing more radical external ‘open’ procedures. At Groote Schuur Hospital we performed 94 advanced endoscopic sinonasal and anterior skull base procedures over a 2-year period. Most of the procedures would previously have been performed using large external incisions requiring more invasive surgery with significantly higher morbidity. Endoscopic surgery is more cost-effective by reducing duration of hospitalization, operating time and theatre consumables and by obviating the need for postoperative ICU admission