Report the updated version of retrolabyrinthine meatotomy (RLM) to the whole internal auditory canal in hearing preservation surgery (HPS) via retrosigmoid approach (RS) in sporadic vestibular schwannoma (VS).
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
Surgeons using the retrosigmoid approach for vestibular schwannoma may consider the updated retrolabyrinthine meatotomy technique, but the evidence is limited; prospective comparative data are needed before this should change standard surgical practice.
Hearing preservation during vestibular schwannoma surgery remains an unsolved problem, and any refined technique that credibly improves outcomes is of direct interest to neurotological surgeons and the audiologists who counsel and rehabilitate these patients.
- 01Updated retrolabyrinthine meatotomy technique reported for the retrosigmoid surgical approach.
- 02Primary goal is improving hearing preservation in vestibular schwannoma removal.
- 03Evidence level is limited — likely case series or small retrospective cohort.
- 04Hearing loss is a known complication of vestibular schwannoma surgery regardless of approach.
- 05Findings are relevant to neurotologists, skull-base surgeons, and rehabilitative audiologists.
The updated retrolabyrinthine meatotomy technique improves hearing preservation outcomes in vestibular schwannoma surgery via the retrosigmoid approach.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42671596
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00405-026-10505-4.
- Journal
- European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Patients undergoing vestibular schwannoma surgery via the retrosigmoid approach
- Intervention
- Updated retrolabyrinthine meatotomy technique combined with retrosigmoid approach
Primary outcomes
Hearing preservation rate post-operatively