ABSTRACT
Surgical approaches to pathology in the infratemporal fossa have developed over a relatively short period of time. As recently as the 1960s malignant tumours involving the infratemporal fossa, and the adjacent middle cranial fossa, were considered by some to be inoperable due to the difficulty in achieving adequate tumour clearance and excessive blood loss. Early attempts at improving access frequently resulted in both severe cosmetic deformity and disturbance of function-usually the result of the resection of structures uninvolved by the pathology in order to increase exposure.
