Follow-up Management of Patients After Transsphenoidal Approach for Resection of Pituitary Adenomas

Abstract

Background Endoscopic transsphenoidal adenomectomy (eTSA) is widely utilized for resection of pituitary adenoma. eTSA patients undergo healing for weeks to months and are potentially at risk for complications. Multidisciplinary follow-up monitoring is necessary. We hypothesized that patients with deviations from the routine postoperative course, broadly termed complications of interest (COI) in this study, following eTSA would increase the duration of follow-up in the rhinology clinic. Methods Retrospective review was performed on patients undergoing eTSA for pituitary adenoma from August 2007 to May 2016 at a single tertiary care center. COIs were reviewed for their influence on follow-up time. Results A total of 985 patient records were reviewed (mean age 51.0 ± 15.7 years, 55.2% female), of which, 21.1% of patients had a deviation from the expected postoperative course (7.0% rhinologic, 10.8% surgical, 0.6% perioperative medical, and 2.7% endocrinologic COIs). The most common COI was cerebrospinal fluid leak 5.6% (n = 55) followed by sinusitis 5.0% (n = 49). Moreover, 935 patients (94.9%) attended rhinology follow-up (172 patients with COI). For patients seen postoperatively by the rhinology service, COIs significantly increased the number of rhinologic follow-up visits (median 2 [interquartile range, IQR: 2–3] vs 3 visits [IQR: 2–4], P < .001), duration of rhinologic follow-up (median 54.0 days [IQR: 43.0–104.0] vs 88.0 days [IQR: 54.5–242.0], P < .001), and duration of overall multidisciplinary follow-up (median 354.0 days [IQR: 104.0–789.0] vs 537.0 days [IQR: 171.5–1313.5], P < .001), compared to those without COIs. Conclusions Patients who develop postoperative complications after eTSA have significantly extended follow-up with the multidisciplinary team.