A Learning Curve of Endoscopic Transsphenoidal Surgery for Pituitary Adenoma

Abstract

Experience is an important point in the effectiveness of the surgical procedure and in the reduction of complications in pituitary surgery. Endoscopic pituitary surgery differs from microscopic surgery because it requires a steep learning curve for endoscopic skills. In this study, we investigated the learning curve of endoscopic transsphenoidal pituitary surgery in our department. Endoscopic transsphenoidal operations were performed on 80 patients, who were retrospectively examined and grouped as the early and late experience groups to evaluate the learning curve. The patients' characteristics, gross total resection, endocrinological cure, visual field improvement, duration of surgery, postoperative hospital stay, and complications were noted. After examining our patients of the 2 groups of period, our experience showed that as the effectiveness of endoscopic surgery increases, the duration of surgery and postoperative hospital stay decrease. In this study, we identified a learning curve in endoscopic pituitary surgery.