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| Facial Function in Hearing Preservation Acoustic Neuroma Surgery | |
| Objective: To determine if facial function is worse after hearing preservation acoustic neuroma surgery (retrosigmoid and middle fossa) than in translabyrinthine surgery. Design: Retrospective medical record review. Setting: Private neuro-otology subspecialty practice of patients operated on in a tertiary care hospital. Patients This study evaluated 512 consecutive acoustic neuroma surgical procedures between April 1989 and July 1998. A total of 209 translabyrinthine procedures and 106 hearing preservation surgical procedures were preformed. The hearing preservation procedures were equally divided between retrosigmoid (n=48) and middle fossa (n=58) procedures. Methods: Medical records were reviewed and tabulated for tumor size, surgical approach, and House Brackmann facial function grade at short-, intermediate-, and long-term individuals. Results: Postoperative facial function in hearing preservation surgical procedures at short-, and long-term follow-up was not worse than facial function after translabyrithine surgical procedures in comparably sized tumors. Conclusion: Concern about postoperative facial function should not be the deciding factor in selecting hearing preservation vs. nonhearing preservation acoustic neuroma surgery. | |