Abstracts

Rationale: The development of the surgical strategy for the treatment of temporal lobe epilepsy began in 1950, when the pathogenesis of temporal mesial structures in the involvement of epileptic seizures became better understood. This surgery remains one of the most successful in the treatment of epilepsy. However, other surgical access techniques have been developed in order to minimize complications.Objectives: The objective of this study was to evaluate the surgical results, mainly regarding the control of seizures and postoperative recovery in patients submitted to minimally invasive craniotomy (keyhole) for the treatment of temporal lobe epilepsy, in comparison to those submitted to a standard temporal craniotomy. Methods: Preoperative evaluation consisted of clinical history, physical examination, electroencephalogram, video-electroencephalogram and magnetic resonance, including the coronal sequences in thin sections (T1, T2, FLAIR). The patients were divided into 2 groups: 40 patients submitted to minimally invasive craniotomy and 50 patients submitted to standard craniotomy, all of them operated by the same surgeon. The percentage of seizure control was analyzed using the Engel scale, surgical time and hospital stay, as well as surgical complications in both groups.  Results: Although there was no significant difference in the control of seizures when comparing both groups, a significantly shorter hospital stay and surgical time were observed in those patients submitted to minimally invasive surgical access, as well as a lower surgical complications. Conclusions: We conclude that the minimal surgical access technique is more beneficial for the patient, since it represents a faster recovery, associated with early hospital discharge and a lower rate of complications. Consequently, this may represent a lower hospital cost. Funding: There was no funding