A nerve test looked normal, but the facial nerve was hurt
Original title: Intraoperative detection of a false-negative facial motor evoked potential by direct facial nerve stimulation during vestibular schwannoma surgery: A case report.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This was tested in people. That is the most reliable kind of research we share.
This is one patient's story from surgery, not a study of many people.
The short version
During one surgery, the usual nerve test looked fine while the facial nerve was being harmed.
What was studied. Doctors report on one man, age 58, who had surgery for a vestibular schwannoma. That is a tumor that grows near the nerves for hearing and face movement. They watched his facial nerve during surgery in more than one way.
What they found. The main nerve test stayed steady the whole time. Its signal never fell below 50% of the starting level. But when the team tested one spot on the nerve directly, there was almost no response. That showed the nerve was badly hurt at that spot. After surgery, his face was very weak. By 6 months, it had improved a lot.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: Testing the nerve directly, at more than one spot, may catch harm the main test misses. If surgeons know sooner, they may be able to change what they do and protect face movement.
What it doesn't mean: This is one patient, written up as a case report. It does not prove that extra testing saves face movement. The team says this was the only case like it among more than 100 surgeries they watched. It is not a new treatment, and it is not a cure.
Source: PubMed, October 16, 2026 · Read the original
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