Abstract:Objective To compare the curative effect and stress response of endoscopic single nostril trans sphenoidal resection and microscopic trans sphenoidal resection for the treatment of pituitary tumors.? Methods A total of 82 patients with pituitary tumors treated from June 2015 to June 2017 were selected as study objects and were divided into endoscopic group (treated by endoscopic single nostril trans sphenoidal resection, n=40) and microscopic group (treated by microscopic trans sphenoidal resection, n=42) according to different surgical approach. The situation of surgery, perioperative stress response indexes including interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-8, high-sensitivity C reactive protein (hs-CRP)], changes of cerebrospinal fluid and recovery of hormone secretion 1 weeks after operation, changes of visual analog scale (VAS) and 20-Item Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-20) before and after surgery and the incidence of complications after surgery were compared between two groups.? Results Compared with microscopic group, the operation time was longer, the operative bleeding and the hospital stay were significantly less or shorter than those in endoscopic group (all P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in the total resection rate of pituitary tumors between two group(P> 0.05). Compared with preoperative, the levels of IL-6, IL-8 and hs-CRP increased at 1-, 3-days after operation in both two groups and were significantly lower in endoscopy group than those in microscope group (all P<0.05). After operation, VAS score decreased, and SNOT-20 score increased in two groups. Both VAS score and SNOT-20 score in endoscopic group were statistically better than those in microscope group (P<0.05). The cerebrospinal fluid cell count, levels of cerebrospinal fluid protein, adrenocorticotropic hormone, growth hormone and prolactin were significant lower in endoscopy group than those in microscope group(all P<0.05). The incidence of postoperative complications was significantly lower in endoscopy group than that in microscope group (10.00% vs 33.33%,? χ²=6.511, P<0.05).? Conclusion Although the operation time is longer, endoscopic surgery is more effective in the treatment of pituitary tumor and has advantages of less intraoperative blood loss, shorter hospital stay, milder stress response, more obvious hormone recovery and better prognosis.