In the early years of skull base surgery, total tumor removal was often deemed impossible due to involvement of the intrapetrous carotid artery. In contrast, previously considered unresectable lesions may be removed totally in selected cases, with reasonable expectation of successful treatment at the present time. Current techniques and operative exposures, when modified to accommodate the problem of intracranial extensions of tumor and when approached with neurosurgical collaboration, permit the removal of many of these difficult tumors. This retrospective study of 33 patients treated over the past 5 years offers a critical analysis of our treatment, and a categorization of abnormalities known to affect this anatomic region containing the vessel.