2024 Volume 117 Issue 3 Pages 201-209
Cervical schwannomas are relatively rare, and it is difficult for a single otolaryngologist or head and neck surgeon to experience many cases of this disease. When surgery is performed, there is a risk of neurological deficits, which discourages not only the patients themselves, but also the attending doctors, from opting for surgical treatment. The tumor is most commonly diagnosed in persons between 30 and 50 years of age, and since most patients have no symptoms other than a cervical mass, there are various views as to how these patients should be managed: whether to be followed up or operated upon, and if surgery is chosen, how the surgery is to be performed. Various surgical approaches have been reported to avoid postoperative neurological deficits. For example, the use of NBI to confirm the tumor capsule, the creation of a surgical model to understand the structure of the schwannoma, partial inter-capsular resection to reduce blood loss, and the continuous aspiration syringe technique for parapharyngeal space schwannomas have been reported. This article outlines the clinical aspects of cervical schwannomas based on our clinical experience.
