Aster Neurosciences conducted a one day CME on ‘Practical aspects of Endoscopic Skull base surgery’ on 23 May 2015. Endoscopic transnasal skull base surgery is an emerging subspecialty in Neurosurgery, but is fraught with dangers for the novice. The aim of the meeting was to discuss about possible issues that could come up during management of these cases and practical ways to deal with them. Experts from various fields connected to this subspecialty presented their views and exchanged their expertise for managing these cases.
Dr Praveen VP, Additional Professor of Dept. of Endocrinology, AIMS, Kochi, presented ways to deal with fluctuations in serum electrolytes, which are very common after these surgeries. He also discussed about management with steroids in the post-operative period.
Dr Swati Chinchure, Consultant Neuroradiologist at Aster Medcity, discussed about possible differential diagnosis of skull base lesions.
Dr Jyothish, Associate Professor, Dept. of Neurosurgery, Medical College Trivandrum, presented on various endoscopes and instruments used for these surgeries, and also discussed about the standard Endoscopic approaches to sella.
Extended approaches to skull base, beyond the confines of sella was discussed by Dr Shyam Sundar S, Consultant Neurosurgeon, Aster Medcity.
Reconstruction after Endoscopic Skull base surgery and management of nose after surgery was discussed in detail by Dr Vineeth Viswam, Consultant ENT surgeon at Aster Medcity.
Pitfalls/ complications in Endoscopic Skull base surgery and the ways to avoid them were discussed by Dr Ajith R, Consultant Neurosurgeon, SUT hospital, Trivandrum.
Dr Ari G Chacko, Prof, Dept. of Neurosurgery, CMC Vellore discussed ways to approach recurrent Cushing’s disease, which is a vexing problem. He also dealt with management of Craniopharyngioma- when to and when not to approach the lesions through the nose with the endoscope.
This was followed by a Bring Your Own Cases session where the delegates presented their cases, which were then discussed by the faculty on how best they could be managed.
The meeting had very active discussion from the delegates.
Dr Dilip Panikar, Senior consultant Neurosurgery, Aster Medcity, was the Chairman, while Dr Shyam Sundar S, Consultant Neurosurgeon, Aster Medcity was the Organizing Secretary for the meeting.
