A Prospective Evaluation of Quality of Life in Patients Undergoing Extended Endoscopic Endonasal Surgery for Benign Pituitary Gland Lesion

Introduction: Endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) has become the preferred approach for pituitary tumor resection. Nevertheless, research on quality of life related to pituitary adenoma surgery is scarce. Objective: The aim of the study is to evaluate short-term quality of life in patients after endoscopic endonasal resection of pituitary tumors and to find predictors for poor quality of life (QOL) outcome. Materials and Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted, including all patients who underwent EES for pituitary tumors in a tertiary medical referral center. Recruited patients completed the Anterior Skull Base Disease-Specific QOL (ASBS-Q) questionnaire and the Sinonasal Outcome Test 22 (SNOT-22) questionnaire before surgery, 2 and 4 to 6 months after surgery. Demographic and clinical data was collected. Results: Our study included 49 patients. The overall ASBS-Q scores significantly improved 4 to 6 months after surgery (4.46 vs. 4.2, p < 0.05). We found a significant improvement in QOL related to emotional state 2 months post surgery (4.41 vs. 3.87, p < 0.05), which became borderline significant 4 to 6 months post surgery. There was a significant improvement in pain (4.5 vs. 4.08, p < 0.05) and vitality (4.43 vs. 4.16, p < 0.05) domains 4 to 6 months post surgery. SNOT-22 scores did not change significantly postoperatively. Factors such as secreting and non-secreting tumors, tumor size, intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak, gross tumor resection, endocrine remission, and the use of nasoseptal flap reconstruction did not have a significant effect on QOL. Conclusion: We found that patients after EES reported improved QOL 4 to 6 months post surgery. Specific improvement was noted in the QOL related to pain and vitality.