Technique of posterior clinoidectomy and its applications

An understanding of the microsurgical anatomy of posterior clinoid process (PCP) is extremely important to where the removal of PCP is required to access the interpeduncular and prepontine cisterns and upper basilar artery region to manage the aneurysms located in this region. In the present article, we describe our experience with a technique that is safe and provides ample space to look into these regions. The key to safe drilling is that the drilling of the posterior clinoid needs to be performed in a "touch and back" manner (rather than clockwise or counterclockwise motion) to break the cortex.