Abstract: Objective To introduce the temporo-suboccipital transpetrosal approach to remove the tumors in the clivus and/or petrous regions.Methods All of the 116 patients have undergone the temporo-suboccipital transpetrosal approach. The approach has been divided into three variants: retrolabyrinthine presigmoid, trans-sigmoid, translabyrinthine and transcochlear presigmoid.Results In 75 cases, the patients' tumors were totally removed. And 33 tumors were incompletely removed, 8 patients' tumors were largely removed. The postoperative mortality was 2.6%.Conclusion The temporo-suboccipital transpetrosal approach, which has several variants, provides exposure from the sphenoid ridge and cavernous sinus to the foramen magnum. These approaches are suitable for exposure and removaling tumors of cranial base, clival, petroclival, or sphenopetroclival.

Key words: surgical approach, clivus and/or petrous, tumor