Facial Translocation Approach

It is an approach to the skull base through the anterior portion of the petrous temporal bone and is used for the removal of predominantly extradural tumors in this region. This approach can be used for the management of intradural lesions in the region of the clivus. Its main advantages include avoidance of brain retraction, the use of an extrapharyngeal route, and exposure of the ventral aspect of the pons and medulla and related structures caudal to the trigeminal root.