Facial nerve recovery trajectories and predictors after vestibular schwannoma surgery: a single-centre cohort study of 213 patients

After tumour control, facial nerve preservation is a primary objective in vestibular schwannoma surgery. Predicting long-term recovery remains challenging, and the prognostic value of the Koos grade is unclear. OBJECTIVE: The primary outcome was facial palsy at 12 months (partial or severe)....

Clinicians counselling vestibular schwannoma patients pre-operatively can reference this cohort's recovery trajectories and predictors to set more realistic facial nerve outcome expectations, though findings need validation in multi-centre prospective studies before changing surgical decision-making.

Facial nerve palsy is a feared complication of vestibular schwannoma surgery; reliable prognostic predictors from a reasonably large single-centre cohort can meaningfully improve pre-surgical counselling and post-operative monitoring strategies.

1. 01Single-centre cohort of 213 patients undergoing vestibular schwannoma surgery analysed for facial nerve outcomes.
2. 02Study maps distinct facial nerve recovery trajectories following tumour removal.
3. 03Identifies prognostic predictors (e.g., tumour size, pre-op nerve function) linked to recovery outcomes.
4. 04Published in the Journal of Plastic and Hand Surgery (JPHS); retrospective single-centre design limits generalisability.
5. 05Findings support more individualised pre-operative patient counselling on facial nerve risk.

PMID

42262007

DOI

10.2340/jphs.v61.45989.

Journal

Journal of Plastic and Hand Surgery

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

4

Sample size

213

Population

Patients undergoing vestibular schwannoma surgery at a single centre (n=213)

Intervention

Vestibular schwannoma surgery