Endoscopic Extended skull base surgery usually does not require an incision. Over the past decade, endoscopic skull base surgery has advanced rapidly, starting with pituitary surgery and progressing to suprasellar lesions and now a variety of lesions reaching from the cribriform plate to C2, as well as laterally to the infratemporal fossa and petrous apex. An endoscope, a thin, illuminated tube, is used by neurosurgeons to remove growths from patients after a surgeon creates a tiny incision within the nose. To help the surgical specialists ensure that every growth has been removed, a radiology specialist may do a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the base of the skull using magnets and a computer during the operation.