Anesthesia for posterior fossa tumor surgery

Posterior fossa surgery is associated with higher rates of morbidity and mortality and a wider variety of complications than surgery in the supratentorial compartment. Indeed, this type of surgery presents difficult challenges due to the anatomical and physiological peculiarities of the area involved, which also require the patient to be placed in a specific position preoperatively. Moreover, it presents special problems related to cranial nerve dysfunction and prevention of and monitoring for venous air embolism. These complications may be avoided by careful perioperative planning and the judicious management of general anesthesia. In this regard, certain aspects of general anesthesia require close attention. This chapter discusses pre-and postoperative considerations, intraoperative positioning and monitoring, choice of anesthetic technique, methods of preventing venous air embolisms, and the effects of surgery on the cardiovascular and respiratory centers.