Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41951889›Full record

SynthesisNeurosurgical review2026

The effect of a learning curve on outcomes of vestibular schwannoma surgery: A systematic review.

Jacob M C Deeb, Hamish J M Dowie, Christopher Ovenden, Mendel Castle-Kirszbaum, Sharad Chawla, Michael Schultz, Stephen Santoreneos, Nick Vrodos, Nicholas G Candy

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Neurosurgical review, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Jacob M C DeebAdelaide Medical School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. jacob.deeb@student.adelaide.edu.au.
Hamish J M DowieAdelaide Medical School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Christopher OvendenDepartment of Surgery, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Mendel Castle-KirszbaumDepartment of Neurosurgery, Monash Health, Melbourne, Australia.
Sharad ChawlaDepartment of Otolaryngology, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Michael SchultzAdelaide Medical School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Stephen SantoreneosRoyal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Nick VrodosDepartment of Neurosurgery, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Nicholas G CandyDepartment of Surgery, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Vestibular schwannoma (VS) surgery can be complex, with the risk of incurring significant neurological deficit or other complication. Our systematic review aimed to investigate the presence of a ‘learning curve’ for various outcomes in VS surgery. The review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, with the Medline, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane library and Web of Science databases searched on the 30/4/25 for articles investigating the learning curve in VS surgery. Information extracted included age, gender, surgical approach, surgery duration, extent of resection, facial nerve (FN) outcome, hearing preservation (HP), complications, and further treatment. The time or patient number intervals that the learning curve was assessed at was recorded as well. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was utilised to determine risk of bias. Twelve studies were identified, reporting on 4059 VS cases. FN function was reported in eleven studies, all of which suggested improved FN outcomes with increased surgical experience. Hearing preservation was demonstrated to be statistically significant in four studies. Studies sporadically reported on surgical duration, resection and complication rates, with no clear learning curve identified for any of these outcomes. Our review identified the presence of a learning curve with regards to FN outcome in VS surgery with a plateau in initial surgical learning curve being obtained in the later cases of an early career surgeon’s experience. A learning curve was also found for HP in cases where this was an operative goal. Evidence demonstrating a learning curve for other outcomes is limited.

Indexed as

Learning CurveNeuroma, AcousticNeurosurgical ProceduresHumansPostoperative ComplicationsTreatment OutcomeFacial nerveLearning curveMiddle FossaNeurosurgeryRetrosigmoidTranslabyrinthineVestibular schwannoma

Identifiers

PMID41951889
PMCPMC13061782

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.