Quality of Life Outcomes and Approach-Specific Morbidities in Endoscopic Endonasal Skull Base Surgery

Endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery (EESBS) has many advantages compared with traditional approaches. Recently, there is an increasing focus on patient-centered, quality of life (QOL), and approach-specific outcomes. This review seeks to illuminate our current understanding and knowledge gaps in EESBS-specific QOL outcomes. In an effort to capture the most relevant QOL implications for patients undergoing EESBS, three comprehensive, validated, QOL instruments have been created. These instruments are often supplemented by sinonasal-specific outcome measures, given the potentially significant sinonasal repercussions incurred with the use of the endonasal corridor. To date, most EESBS QOL investigations include patients with sellar-based pathology, though series with patients undergoing more extensive approaches are emerging. Generally, patients experience transient postoperative worsening of skull base– and sinonasal-specific QOL. Larger series, with validated QOL outcome measures, are needed to better understand patient outcomes and the morbidities of EESBS, especially those that relate to olfaction and surgery beyond the sella.