Coblation assistance in endoscopic repair of skull base cerebrospinal fluid leak: a prospective cohort and single-centre study

Coblation assistance in endoscopic repair of skull base cerebrospinal fluid leak: a prospective cohort and single-centre study

Abstract Background Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak is the outflow of CSF from the subarachnoid space to the nasal fossa, which can be either traumatic or non-traumatic. It is diagnosed through clinical evaluation and radiography and managed by endoscopic surgery. This study aimed to assess the effic...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Goran Latif Omer, Stefano Di Girolamo, Othman Hussein Ahmed, Aland Salih Abdullah, Sahand Soran Ali, Riccardo Maurizi, Sveva Viola, Giuseppe De Donato
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2025-07-01
Series:Egyptian Journal of Neurosurgery
Subjects:
Cerebrospinal fluid leak
Radiofrequency coblation
Nasal endoscopy
Skull base surgery
MRI
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s41984-025-00456-z
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Summary:Abstract Background Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak is the outflow of CSF from the subarachnoid space to the nasal fossa, which can be either traumatic or non-traumatic. It is diagnosed through clinical evaluation and radiography and managed by endoscopic surgery. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of radiofrequency coblation (RFC) assistance in the endoscopic repair of cerebrospinal fluid leaks. It is a prospective cohort study on patients with CSF leak. From January 2020 to January 2023, 22 patients who were referred to the otorhinolaryngology unit for CSF leak were consecutively enrolled, with a median age of 42.5 years. Results The most common localisation of CSF defect was the ethmoid (anterior, posterior, cribriform plate or ethmoid fovea) followed by sphenoid. The most common defect size was 0.5–1 cm. The postoperative stay was 3 days in twenty cases, and no complications in terms of post-operatory bleeding, meningitis or tension pneumocephalus were observed. The 2-month follow-up with fibreoptic examination and the 2-year follow-up with skull MRI did not show any sign of CSF leak recurrence. Conclusion This study showed that RFC is an effective alternative assistance technique in the endoscopic treatment of CSF leaks.
ISSN:2520-8225

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