Surgery with “keyhole” approaches

Keyhole is a minimally invasive technique where, with an incision of only 5 cm, shorter, less traumatic, and safer operations are performed than before.

 

Keyhole surgery, a medical revolution

In 1978, doctors Brock and Dietz were among the first to report a mini-craniotomy, called a fronto-lateral, to address intracranial aneurysms.

Later, with the use of the endoscope as a support instrument for microsurgery, the Keyhole concept appeared; This type of procedure has been widely used during the last two decades to treat multiple intracranial lesions.

In the past, when a patient had to undergo a craniotomy, they had to face a long operation (between 6 and 12 hours), where an incision of between 15 and 30 cm was made. In the process, the person lost a lot of blood and could suffer major complications.
In addition, it was very stigmatizing for the patient because of the huge scar on the head, whereas now there is only a small scar that can be hidden under the hair.

 

In which cases is Keyhole type surgery used?

This type of procedure is used for all types of complex neurosurgical pathologies. For example, with the Keyhole technique, it is possible to operate a brain aneurysm in approximately 1 hour or an hour and a half, in addition to drastically reducing mortality.

On the other hand, the chances of recurrence (that the pathology returns) decrease considerably.

Another advantage is that it avoids further complications and shortens the postoperative period, achieving a faster recovery and restoring the patient’s quality of life.