Preoperative antibiotics and steroids in vestibular schwannoma excision

Objective: To examine the benefits of preoperative admission for intravenou s steroids and antibiotics for patients undergoing vestibular schwannoma ex cision, Study Design: Retrospective cohort study. Methods: One hundred twen ty patients with pathologically confirmed vestibular schwannoma followed fo r at least 1 year after surgery were included. Sixty patients were assigned to the preoperative admission group and 60 patients to the same-day-admiss ion surgery group. The preoperative admission group was given intravenous d examethasone (0.1 mg/kg) and intravenous cefazolin (1 g) beginning 12 hours before surgery. The same-day-surgery group received the same dosage of med ication beginning at induction of anesthesia. Outcomes: Facial nerve functi on, meningitis, and wound infection rates, duration of hospital stay, and r eadmission rates were examined, Results: There was no statistical differenc e in facial nerve function between the groups when controlling for tumor si ze. Likewise, there was no difference in meningitis or wound infection rate s in the groups. As expected, hospital stay was significantly reduced but r eadmission rates were not affected. Conclusions: There are no apparent faci al nerve function or infection control benefits to 1-day preoperative admis sion for intravenous steroids and antibiotics for patients undergoing vesti bular schwannoma excision.