The influence of surgical experience on the rate of intraoperative aneurysm repture and its impact on aneurysm treatment outcome.

Abstract BACKGROUND The influence of surgical experience on the result of aneurysm surgery remains unclear. To determine the impact of surgical experience we considered the occurrence of intraoperative aneurysm rupture (IAR) during microneurosurgery for intracranial aneurysms as an objective factor that could be evaluated. METHODS A retrospective study was performed on 379 consecutive patients with 490 cerebral aneurysms operated upon from 1989 to 1995. RESULTS IAR occurred in 6.7% of aneurysms and 8.7% of patients. There was a direct inverse relationship between the annual caseload of the surgeon and the risk of IAR. New neurological deficits (NND) occurred in 21% of patients with IAR, whi…