Neurosurgery - Cranial Surgery for Pituitary Tumour

You have been referred for an operation for an abnormality within or near the pituitary gland. We find that most patients have similar concerns, and this patient information booklet is intended to explain some of the surgical aspects of your treatment and hopefully to put your mind at ease. There are also useful contact details for further information and advice in this leaflet.

Your surgical and endocrine teams will be happy to explain any further queries and unfamiliar terminology.

Manchester Pituitary team

The Pituitary surgical service in Manchester is one of the busiest in the country, serving a population of approximately 3.5 million adults and 5 million children.

Pituitary surgery is undertaken on adults at the Salford Royal Hospital and in children at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospitals (RMCH).

We also accept and treat patients referred from outside of the Manchester region, including overseas patients. New patient referrals from within the UK require a referral letter from the patient’s General Practitioner.

Pituitary surgery in Manchester is undertaken by the Neurosurgeons:

Professor Kanna Gnanalingham
Miss Jane Halliday
Professor Omar Pathmanaban
 
As part of a multi-disciplinary team (MDT), the pituitary surgeons work closely with the endocrinologists across the Greater Manchester region.

Other key members of the team include the Neuroradiologists, Oncologists, Neuro-ophthalmologists, and the Specialist nurses.

All surgical patients are discussed on a regular basis at the Manchester Pituitary MDT meeting, in accordance with NICE guidelines.

What is a Pituitary Tumour?

The pituitary gland is the key hormone producing organ, which is situated at the base of the brain, approximately 5cm behind the tip of the nose (Figure 1a).

Figure 1a

The pituitary gland produces 8 different hormones that control a number of functions throughout the body, including general wellbeing, ability to cope with stresses of life, such as infection, body growth, sexual function, thirst, metabolism as well as energy levels.
 
Pituitary tumours (figure 1b) are relatively common. Indeed, studies suggest that between 10-20% of the general population may possess a pituitary abnormality.

Fig 1b

However, most of these remain very small and do not cause any problems and only a small proportion cause symptoms requiring medical treatment.

Pituitary adenomas account for approximately 90% of all pituitary tumours. The vast majority (99% or more) of pituitary tumours are benign and not cancers.

Most pituitary tumours cause symptoms due to pressure on nerves that control your vision (e.g. loss of peripheral vision) and/or due to changes in hormone levels produced by the pituitary gland. They are slow growing, and the patients generally do well with treatment.

What are the treatment options?

Treatment options for pituitary tumours include surgery, medications and/or radiotherapy.

The choice of treatment will be dependent on a number of factors including your tumour type, tumour size, severity of symptoms, your age, general wellbeing, and your preferences.

As most pituitary tumours are benign and slow growing, there is also the option of waiting (i.e. conservative approach), with regular clinical review and MR scans to check for any increase in size of the lesion.

Your surgical and endocrine teams will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each option and help to decide the best treatment plan in your case.

Fig 2a

With respect to surgery, there are a number of different ways in which your surgeon can reach the pituitary tumour. The vast majority (i.e. more than 90%) of patients with pituitary tumours who require surgery are operated through the nose, the so called trans-sphenoidal surgery (Figure 2a) (see separate patient information leaflet).

Why do I need cranial surgery?

In patients with pituitary tumours, very occasionally an operation through the skull (i.e. cranial surgery) is necessary (Figure 2b).
This is usually because an operation through the nose was unable or unlikely to adequately remove most of the tumour in the first instance.

In addition, a variety of other lesions can be encountered around the pituitary gland, which may also be operated by cranial surgery.

Fig 2b

You may therefore undergo cranial surgery for the following conditions found around the pituitary area, including:

• Very large pituitary adenoma remnant (Figure 3a)
• Large craniopharyngiomas (Figure 3b; developmental abnormalities)
• Meningiomas of anterior skull base (Figure 3c)
• Infection around the Pituitary
• Tumour spread from elsewhere in the body (i.e. Metastasis)
• Meningoencephaloceles (developmental abnormalities)

Fig 3

What are the benefits of surgery?

The aim of surgery is to remove as much of the tumour as safely as possible. This will also allow the precise histological diagnosis of the lesion.

Tumour removal will relieve any pressure on nearby brain and important nerves, including those that enable for you to see. Visual improvement may be apparent after surgery. However, the extent and speed of this visual improvement depends on a number of factors including how poor your vision is before surgery. Your surgeon will be able to advice further on this.

What happens before surgery?

You will be seen by your surgical team at Salford Royal Hospital, who will go through the nature of surgery in detail. Your surgeon will also usually arrange a special image guidance scan to take place at Salford Royal Hospital that helps your surgeon plan and undertake the operation safely.

At the end of your neurosurgical clinic visit, you will also need to attend a pre- operative clinic, in which you will be assessed from a general health point of view. On occasions, further anaesthetic or medical reviews will also be requested prior to surgery.

Your pituitary hormone blood tests will also be checked before surgery and sometimes hormone treatment, or additional tests, may be needed prior to your operation. This will be over seen by your endocrine team.

Once deemed fit to proceed with surgery, you will usually be admitted on the day of surgery to the Surgical Admission Lounge (SAL) at Salford Royal Hospital.

Your surgical team will write to you with further details about this. For any queries about date of admission, please liaise with your surgeon’s secretary (see contact details at end).

What should I do about my medications?

You should continue your normal medication unless you are told otherwise in the pre-operative clinic.

Blood thinning medications such as warfarin, clopidogrel or aspirin, will need to be discontinued 5-10 days before surgery to minimise the risk of bleeding during surgery.
 
Follow your surgeon’s advice about stopping these medications before the operation.

Which cranial approach?

In cranial surgery, there are a number of different ways in which your surgeon can reach the pituitary tumour (Figure 4).
Depending on the size and location of the pituitary tumour the surgery may be done through an incision behind the hairline (e.g. fronto-temporal or midline frontal approaches) or over the eyebrow.

Your surgeon will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each approach in your case.

Fig 4

What does the operation involve?

Surgery is performed under a general anaesthetic. Depending on the nature, size and shape of your tumour, the operation can take between 2 to 6 hours. Your surgeon will be able to advise further.

The skin cut will be made just behind the hairline or over the eyebrow to reveal the surface of the skull. A variable size of skull bone is cut out. Your surgeon will work through this skull opening to carefully reach the pituitary tumour, whilst minimising any damage to normal brain.

The pituitary tumour is removed with the aid of the operating microscope and using specially designed surgical instruments.

In some cases, a fine tube may be placed in the middle of tumour cyst and connected to a plastic reservoir that sits under the scalp. This will enable the surgeon to drain the tumour fluid again, without the need for open surgery. This is referred to as placing an ‘Omaya reservoir’.

(Figure 5). Aspiration of Omaya reservoir

At the end of the operation the piece of skull bone is replaced and secured to the rest of the skull with small metallic plates. The cut on the scalp is closed with sutures or metallic clips. There may be a temporary wound drain left in place to drain any excessive accumulation of blood, and this is removed after 24 hours.

What complications can happen?

Cranial surgery for pituitary tumours is relatively safe and most patients do well from surgery and go home 2-5 days later.

We will do our best to ensure that your operation is undertaken as safely as possible. However, complications can happen and some of these can be serious.

The likely risks of complications are obtained from large studies conducted in both our unit in Manchester and elsewhere in the world. Your surgeon will be able to tell you if the risks in your case are higher or lower.

In most patients with pituitary tumours, cranial surgery carries a risk of <1-2% of very rare but major complications such as death, injury to major blood vessels and blindness.

The risks of less severe complications are around 15-40%, but this will vary between patients.

These complications include infection, meningitis, bleeding, stroke (from damage to brain and nerves), fits, leakage, or buildup of brain fluid (also known as cerebrospinal fluid, CSF) and the need for surgery for this. Following surgery, the normal pituitary gland may also fail to function properly with a small risk of infertility. In many cases, this is temporary, although in some cases this might be permanent, requiring the need for lifelong replacement of one or more hormones.

There are also risks related to the general anaesthetic and other general medical complications such as chest infections, heart disease and deep venous clots. The anaesthetist and the pre- operative clinic team will be able to advise further about this.
 
There is a possibility of some tumour being left behind, which may require further surgical, medical and/or radiotherapy treatments. Your surgeon will be able to explain the likelihood of this in your case.

What is my recovery likely to be?

Recovery in hospital

After the operation you will be transferred to the recovery area in theatre and then to the monitored bay of the neurosurgical ward.

Soon after surgery, you may experience some headaches, nausea, and pain over the scalp wound. Over the first few days there may be progressive swelling over your wound that may also extend to your forehead, with associated bruising and swelling of your eyes. This is due to blood and tissue fluids accumulating under the wound and will gradually improve after the first few days.

The nurses and your physiotherapist will help you to start walking as soon as possible. They will also carry out regular observations on your vital signs, including your vision.

The medical team will want to know all about how much fluid you are taking in and passing out in your urine and therefore you will be on a strict fluid balance chart. Very occasionally the part of the pituitary gland, which helps control the volume of urine can be disturbed and you may start to produce a lot of urine and be very thirsty. This is called diabetes insipidus (DI) and is usually temporary and is treated by increasing your fluid intake.

DI is not the same as Diabetes mellitus, which is related to high blood sugars.

Most patients can go home after 2-5 days, without any complications. Most patients will be discharged home on oral painkillers and steroid (hydrocortisone) tablets in addition to your other medications.

Recovery after going home

We advise that you have somebody at home in the first 1-2 weeks when you are discharged as you may be tired and may need extra help at home.

If you develop worsening symptoms such as headaches, vomiting, visual blurring, and/or persistent discharge from the wound it is important that you contact the ward or your surgeon. These symptoms may need further assessment (e.g. blood tests and brain scans) and treatment.

Persistent wound discharge may suggest a wound infection or a CSF leak. If this continues, bacteria can creep into the brain, which can lead to infection of the brain (i.e. meningitis). Thus, early investigations and aggressive treatment is important, and you may need to be readmitted for this.

Your wound sutures or clips are usually removed at 5-7 days following surgery. This will usually be carried out by a district nurse or in the pituitary clinic. You should avoid wetting the wound till then. The surgical team will advise further on this.

On discharge all patients are reviewed in the Pituitary Surgery Clinic at Salford Royal Hospital. You will also be seen in the endocrine clinic or Brooke Treatments Unit (BTU) at 1- 4 weeks after surgery. The endocrine nurse specialists will give you more information about the location and timing of these endocrine tests. You will have blood tests that check your pituitary function, including your body’s salt and water control.
 
A small number of patients can develop delayed problems with salt/water balance at 1-2 weeks after surgery, with a tendency to retain fluid.

This condition is called Syndrome of Inappropriate Antidiuretic Hormone (SIADH), and the patient feels tired, headachy, and nauseous. Once confirmed by blood and urine tests, the condition usually gradually resolves by restricting the patient’s daily fluid intake.

You will also need to have a repeat visual assessment and a MR scan usually at 3-4 months post-operatively. The endocrine team will confirm when and at which hospital you will have these tests. This MR scan will clarify if there is any residual tumour and whether you will need further surgery and/or radiotherapy.

You should continue to take your medications including the hydrocortisone tablets until advised otherwise by your endocrine team. You may also need to get a repeat prescription from your GP.

On discharge you will be seen in the pituitary clinic by the Pituitary Surgery Specialist Nurse or Pituitary Surgery Fellow.

You will also be reviewed by your surgeon in the neurosurgical clinic usually at 2-3 months after your operation. Your surgeon will clarify the frequency of subsequent clinic appointments and brain scans.

Returning to normal activities

Most patients make a gradual recovery following trans-cranial pituitary surgery. However, it is common for most patients to feel tired and ‘run down’ especially in the first few weeks after surgery. It is best therefore not to attempt any strenuous activity over this time. It is also best to avoid long distance travel, including travel by air for 6 weeks following surgery.

After cranial surgery, you should not drive, until instructed to do so by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). This time period is variable, but you should not drive for a minimum of 6 months. Returning to driving depends on a number of factors including the severity of any visual problems, other neurological problems, and the risk of fits.

You need to contact the DVLA (contact details are on the back of your driving license) and alert them of your medical condition and the name of the doctors treating you.

After collecting reports from your doctors, an independent medical team at the DVLA will confirm when you can restart driving. You should also inform your insurance company before recommencing driving.

With respect to return to work and other activities, a gradual return is advisable at 6-12 weeks following surgery. The speed of return to normal life partly depends on the nature of your employment and whether you suffered any complications after your operation.

Your surgical and endocrine teams will be able to advise further.

What can I do to help make the operation a success?

If you smoke, try to stop smoking now. Stopping smoking several weeks or more before an operation may reduce your chance of getting complications and will improve your long-term health. For help and advice on stopping smoking you can liaise with your GP or the pre- operative clinic team.

You also have a higher chance of developing complications if you are overweight. For advice on maintaining a healthy weight, you can liaise with your GP or the pre-op clinic team.

Regular exercise can reduce the risk of heart disease, improve how your lungs work and help you to control your weight. Exercise is also likely to help with your recovery and improve your long-term health. For information on how exercise can help you can liaise with your GP or the pre-op clinic team.

Things NOT to do after discharge from hospital:

• Keep your wound dry. You can wash your hair after 5 days
• If you have sutures or clips to close your wound that will need to be removed. In some cases, the sutures are dissolvable. Your surgical team will inform you which type you have
• Use a mild shampoo to wash your hair. Avoid putting soap or shower gel on your wound. Avoid using hair conditioner until the wound has fully healed
• Gently pat your hair dry with a clean towel. Do not rub the wound
• Avoid applying direct heat with a hairdryer until the wound has fully healed and the scab has come away
• Do not colour or perm your hair until the wound has fully healed
• No flying for at least 6 weeks
• You must not drive for a minimum of 6 months after your craniotomy. You must inform the DVLA that you have had a craniotomy
• No strenuous household activities for 4-6 weeks (e.g. cleaning, gardening etc)
• No strenuous exercise for 4-6 weeks
• Stay away from anyone with a cold/cough/chest infection for 1-2 weeks
• Do not stop hydrocortisone until instructed to do so
• Don’t forget to ask the ward staff for a sick note before you are discharged from hospital

Symptoms you should alert us to:

• Worsening headaches or a sudden severe headache
• Any persistent clear fluid dripping from the nose
• High temperature, neck stiffness and intolerance of bright lights
• Deterioration in vision
• Feeling nauseous and being generally unwell
• Increased swelling in or around your wound
• Any discharge from your wound
• Your wound is not healing

On discharge after surgery best way to contact us:

• Telephone the Pituitary Surgery Specialist Nurse on 0161 206 7486
• Telephone the Neurosurgical ward you were discharged from
• Telephone the Neurosurgical Consultant’s secretary
• Telephone your endocrine team

Summary

Pituitary tumours are relatively common benign tumours of the brain which can cause hormonal changes and visual symptoms.

All patients with pituitary disease are assessed and treated by a multi-disciplinary team.

The endoscopic approach to the pituitary gland is a keyhole technique with relatively rapid recovery after surgery.

Surgery is usually safe and effective. Patients with pituitary tumours generally do well with treatment and lead near normal lives.

Useful contact details:

For any queries, please contact the relevant consultants or your designated endocrine nurse specialists at the numbers below.

Fiona Cains
Pituitary Surgery Specialist Nurse
Greater Manchester Neuroscience Centre,
Salford Royal Hospital, Stott Lane, Salford M6 8HD
Email: Fiona.cains@nca.nhs.uk
Tel: 0161 206 7486

Professor Kanna Gnanalingham
Consultant in Neurosurgery
Greater Manchester Neuroscience Centre
Salford Royal Hospital, Stott Lane, Salford M6 8HD
Secretary: Andrea Harrison
Email: andrea.harrison2@nca.nhs.uk
Tel: 0161 206 4340
Fax: 0161 206 4606

Miss Jane Halliday
Consultant in Neurosurgery
Greater Manchester Neuroscience Centre
Salford Royal Hospital, Stott Lane, Salford M6 8HD
Secretary: Wendy Foster
Email: wendy.foster@nca.nhs.uk
Tel: 0161 206 8340
Fax: 0161 206 4606
 
Professor Omar Pathmanaban
Consultant in Neurosurgery
Greater Manchester Neuroscience Centre
Salford Royal Hospital, Stott Lane, Salford M6 8HD
Secretary: Wendy Foster
Email: wendy.foster@nca.nhs.uk
Tel: 0161 206 8340
Fax: 0161 206 4606

Dr Tara Kearney
Consultant in Endocrinology
Department of Endocrinology,
Salford Royal Hospital, Stott Lane, Salford M6 8HD
Secretary: Jane Page
Email: jane.page@nca.nhs.uk
Tel: 0161 206 5693

Dr Waseem Majeed
Consultant in Endocrinology
Department of Endocrinology
Salford Royal Hospital, Stott Lane, Salford M6 8HD
Secretary: Abby Highcock
Email: abigail.highcock@nca.nhs.uk
Tel: 0161 206 0108
 
Dr Adam Robinson
Consultant in Endocrinology
Department of Endocrinology
Salford Royal Hospital, Stott Lane, Salford M6 8HD
Secretary: Jane Page
Email: jane.page@nca.nhs.uk
Tel: 0161 206 5693

Dr Adhithya Sankar
Consultant in Endocrinology
Department of Endocrinology
Salford Royal Hospital, Stott Lane, Salford M6 8HD
Secretary: Claire Burtonwood
Email Claire.burtonwood@nca.nhs.uk
Tel: 0161 206 4426

Endocrine Specialist Nurses, Department of Endocrinology 

Kathryn Kinsella (Pituitary key worker)
Julia Fleming
Salford Royal Hospital, Stott Lane, Salford M6 8HD
Tel: 0161 206 7036/7038/4625
Fax: 0161 206 5989

Endocrine Specialist Nurses, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield General Hospital
Tel: 0161 627 8388
Oldham - Tel: 0161 627 8768
North Manchester - Tel: 0161 918 4069

Endocrine Specialist Nurse, Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI)
Department of Endocrinology
Sister Chris Gibson (Pituitary key worker), Nicci Komlosy and Ambily Bastin
Tel: 0161 276 8610
Fax: 0161 276 4977

Endocrine Specialist Nurses, Stepping Hill Hospital
Joanne Brown
Tel: 0161 419 5095

Endocrine Specialist Nurses, The Christie Hospital
Department of Endocrinology
Tel: 0161 446 3479
Fax: 0161 436 3772
 
Endocrine Specialist Nurse, North Manchester General Hospital, Manchester Foundation Trust
Department of Endocrinology
Cristina Edward
Oldham - Tel: 0161 627 8768
North Manchester - Tel: 0161 918 4069

Endocrine Specialist Nurse, Wythenshawe Hospital
Department of Endocrinology
Grace Ensah
Tel: 0161 291 5746

Other contact numbers at Salford Royal Hospital

Ward H7 - 0161 206 4610/5679
Ward B7 - 0161 206 4571/4572
Ward B8 - 0161 206 1290/1297
Brook Treatment Unit (BTU) - Tel: 0161 206 4890
CT scanner - 0161 206 2115
MR scanner - 0161 206 2091
Orthoptic services at Salford Royal Hospital - 0161 212 4018

Useful web links

Pituitary Foundation (UK based website)
www.pituitary.org.uk
Tel: 0117 370 1320
Pituitary Foundation Nurse Helpline 0117 370 1317
Email: helpline@pituitary.org.uk

You and your hormones
https://www.yourhormones.info/