[Computer-assisted surgery of the frontal skull base].

The procedure of instrument navigation has been an established one since its introduction in ENT by Schloendorff. It facilitates better intraoperative orientation. The opto-electric and electromagnetic procedures are sophisticated principles of intraoperative position recognition. It can be assumed that up to 30% of all ENT hospitals in Germany have access to navigation systems. These systems are used almost exclusively for functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). The impact of instrument navigation is estimated by surgeons predominantly positively. A navigation system enables a saving of up to 10% in terms of operating time. Extended approaches in the frontal skull base appear to benefit from the use of navigation support to a high degree. However, scientific data are still lacking. The current boundaries of simple instrument navigation in the frontal skull base are set by the attainable accuracy of approx. 2 mm and the relatively simple representation of the information in planar sectional views. Instrument navigation should be used in the frontal skull base as frequently as possible, even in less complex procedures. Only in this way can familiarity with the system be achieved.