Surgical treatment of craniosysnostosis began in the 1890's and multiple procedures have been developed and advocated for the treatment of this condition. In modern times, surgical correction of craniosynostosis is carried out by surgical craniofacial teams performing a variety of procedures which often times leads to successful correction of the associated deformities.

The "traditional" operation is carried out by making a scalp incision from ear-to-ear, mobilizing the scalp to expose the skull, total or sub-total skull removal, which is followed by reshaping and replacement of the skull with a variety of materials.

Surgery usually takes several hours (3-7), and universally requires blood transfusions with hospitalization of three-five days. Extensive postoperative swelling is often seen and can be associated with some pain and discomfort.