Abstract

The endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) has gained significant popularity across major skull base centers in last decades. However, due to its technical and anatomical peculiarities, it requires a dedicated and long training. The aim of this survey was to assess the exposure of young neurosurgeons to EEA and evaluate their perspectives on this training. An electronic survey was sent to all European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS) members younger than 40 years old, including residents, inquiring about their exposure and perspective on EEA training. The survey was completed by 125 participants. The majority (96.0%) reported to be interested in EEA, mostly with the aim to learn how to perform this surgery autonomously (60.0%) or with assistance (71.2%). A dedicated EEA training was included in the educational program of 64.0% of participants, and 44.0% of them reported to have learned how to perform a regular pituitary surgery. However, 49.6% stated to have not acquired sufficientEEA competencies and only 28.8% had attended a dissection/simulation course or lab. Our survey confirms the interest of young neurosurgeons for the EEA training and that dedicated educational programs are largely available, regularly exposing them to endoscopic pituitary or skull base procedures. Thanks to this training, a consistent rate of participants has developed significant skills in EEA, however our survey showed that a large number of them still reported to have obtained no sufficient competencies. Moreover, also the access to dissection/simulation courses or lab resulted limited.