Experts Urge Early Evaluation for Swallowing, Speaking Issues After Benign Brain Tumor Surgery

Johns Hopkins experts are recommending early post-surgical assessment — preferably within 24 hours — for trouble chewing and swallowing food or speaking normally among patients who have had benign tumors removed from the base of the brain. Such early assessments, they say, may minimize complications associated with the sometimes hazelnut-sized tumors, called vestibular schwannomas. Damage can arise when the tumors themselves press on the nearby cranial nerves — which are key to controlling the tongue, lips, mouth and throat — or from the surgery itself.

The researchers’ recommendation is based on study results from three surveys they conducted, the most recent of which is appears in the December edition of the journal The Laryngoscope. The survey showed that such complications after brain tumor surgery were several times more common than previously thought. For more information, click here to read the full release.