Outcome analysis of 40 cases of vestibular schwannoma: A comparison of sitting and Park bench surgical position

The present study retrospectively reviews our experience in 40 cases of vestibular schwannoma, operated between the years 1995 and 2002. All the patients underwent tumour resection either in sitting or in the Park bench position via the suboccipital retromastoid route. The position of the patient was selected arbitrarily. Precordial Doppler echocardiography was used to monitor air embolism. Operative results, including the size of the tumour, completeness of resection, anatomical and functional preservation of the facial nerve, operative complications and mortality were analysed and compared in these two operative positions. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of surgical results between these two groups.