The Pterional and Suprabrow Approaches for Aneurysm Surgery: A Systematic Review of Intraoperative Rupture Rates in 9488 Aneurysms

ObjectiveTo assess the safety of the suprabrow approach (SBCA) for aneurysm surgery by comparing intraoperative rupture rates with those for the standard pterional approach.MethodsA systematic review of all literature published in or after 1997 was performed using specified search words. All articles described aneurysm surgery by one of two approaches—pterional or suprabrow—and mentioned the rate of intraoperative rupture. A total of 41 articles were found fit for inclusion for the final analysis. Articles that focused on giant, bilateral, posterior fossa, or previously coiled aneurysms were not included. The χ2 test was used to compare the two cohorts and various subgroup analyses were carried out. A P value of <0.05 was considered significant.ResultsThe search of literature yielded 9488 aneurysm reports (41 articles), 7535 operated by the pterional approach and 1953 aneurysms by the SBCA. The overall intraoperative rupture (IOR) rate for the entire group was 9.20%. In the pterional craniotomy approach (PtCA) group, the rate of IOR was 10.09% and in the SBCA group, IOR occurred in 5.78%. The IOR rate in the PtCA group was almost double that in the SBCA group and the odds ratio (OR) for this difference was 1.8 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.49–2.26; P< 0.001). A total of 3039 ruptured aneurysms were analyzed—2848 aneurysms in the PtCA group and 191 in the SBCA group. The rate of IOR was 14.15% for the overall group, 13.8% in the PtCA group, and 19.37% in the SBCA group. The difference in IOR between the PtCA group and the SBCA group for ruptured aneurysms was found to be significant (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.003–2.119; P< 0.05). The number of unruptured aneurysms in the PtCA group was 862 (39.4%) and in the SBCA group, it was 232 (49.1%). The difference in the number of unruptured aneurysms between the groups was significant (P< 0.001). The rate of IOR was significantly less with the SBCA than with the pterional approach.ConclusionsThe rate of intraoperative rupture is significantly higher when ruptured aneurysms are operated with the SBCA (in comparison to the pterional approach). However, the SBCA may be safer for unruptured and middle cerebral artery aneurysms with a lower rate of IOR.