Background: Chiari I malformation is defined by tonsillar herniation through the foramen magnum. There is no consensus on the treatment of Chiari malformation. A simple follow-up is recommended for asymptomatic cases. The classic approach is the midline sub-occipital craniotomy.
Methods: For four years, we operated on six patients with Chiari malformation I using our endoscopic minimally invasive sub-occipital approach. We compared the results with six other patients operated by the classical sub-occipital approach.
Results: Patients operated by endoscopic approach had shorter hospital stays, and wounds healed faster and smoother. Mid-term results were similar in the two groups.
Conclusion: This paper proposes a new endoscopic Minimally invasive paramedian sub-occipital approach for Chiari malformation I. Although the number of cases is limited, the results look promising. We need to gather more cases to have significant numbers to perform a global comparison between the two approaches and assess the advantages and disadvantages of each technique.
Keywords: Chiari Malformation; Foramen magnum; Minimally-invasive neurosurgery; Posterior fossa.
© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Austria, part of Springer Nature.