Safety and surgical outcomes of fluorescein sodium use in vestibular schwannoma: experience from 55 consecutive cases

Vestibular schwannomas (VSs) are benign tumors of the vestibulocochlear nerve for which surgical resection remains challenging due to the risk of facial and cochlear nerve injury. Fluorescein sodium (FS) has been introduced to enhance intraoperative visualization, but its clinical role in VS surgery is not fully established....

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Intraoperative fluorescein sodium appears to be a safe adjunct in vestibular schwannoma surgery based on 55 consecutive cases, but the retrospective, uncontrolled design means neurotology teams should treat this as hypothesis-generating rather than practice-changing evidence.

Better intraoperative visualization techniques that protect the facial and cochlear nerves during vestibular schwannoma resection are a key unmet need, and fluorescein sodium represents a low-cost, accessible candidate worth prospective evaluation.

1. 01Retrospective series of 55 consecutive vestibular schwannoma surgeries using intraoperative fluorescein sodium.
2. 02Primary focus was safety of fluorescein sodium and rates of facial/cochlear nerve preservation.
3. 03No serious adverse events attributed to fluorescein sodium were reported.
4. 04Facial nerve and cochlear nerve outcomes were documented as key surgical endpoints.
5. 05Published in British Journal of Neurosurgery (2026).

PMID

42541436

DOI

10.1080/02688697.2026.2708677.

Journal

British Journal of Neurosurgery

Publication type

research_article

Evidence level

4

Sample size

55

Population

Adults undergoing vestibular schwannoma resection surgery (55 consecutive cases)

Intervention

Intraoperative fluorescein sodium administration during vestibular schwannoma surgery