Objective To determine the safety and effectiveness of the middle cranial fossa (MCF) approach for spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid leak (sCSF-L) repair in class III obese patients. To also assess the need for prophylactic lumbar drain (LD) placement in this patient population. Study Design Retrospective cohort study. Setting Tertiary Academic Center. Patients All patients older than 18 years undergoing sCSF-L repair with an MCF approach. Intervention An MCF craniotomy for sCSF-L repair. Main outcome measure Rate of complications and postoperative leaks. Results There were no perioperative complications in 78.9% (56/71) of cases. The surgical complication rate was 12.5% (2/16), 10% (2/20), and 22.2% (6/27) in class I, class II, and class III obese patients. There was no statistically significant difference in complications among these three groups. The most common postoperative complication was a persistent CSF leak in the acute postoperative period with an overall rate of 9.9% (7/71) with six of the seven patients requiring postoperative LD placement. The percentage of postoperative CSF leaks in nonobese, class I, class II, and class III patients were 25% (2/8), 12.5% (2/16), 0% (0/20), and 11.1% (3/27), respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of postoperative CSF leaks among the four groups (chi-square, p = 0.48). In all cases, the acute postoperative CSF leaks resolved in the long term and did not require further surgical repair. Conclusions We determine that MCF craniotomy repair for sCSF-Ls is safe in patients with class III obesity, and the incidence of postoperative CSF leaks did not vary among other obesity classes. We also find that prophylactic placement of LDs is not routinely needed in this population.
