Vestibular schwannoma: care for soft tissues and subperineural dissection: how I do it.

BACKGROUND Recognition of the right surgical cleavage plane of a vestibular schwannoma is mandatory to preserve the facial nerve function. METHOD We describe here our surgical technique that is focused on soft tissues preservation and on subperineural dissection, avoiding direct exposure of the acoustico-facial complex in order to preserve facial nerve function. CONCLUSION Soft tissue dissection helps in reducing patient's postoperative discomfort. Meticulously keeping a subperineural plan of dissection enables to preserve facial nerve function while offering satisfying resection rates.