About one in six people get new hormone problems after pituitary tumor surgery
Original title: Predicting hormonal deterioration following transsphenoidal surgery for non-functioning pituitary adenomas: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
How far along is this research?
- Lab cells
- Animals
- Review
- Tested in people
This looks across many earlier studies rather than running a new one.
This looks at a surgery doctors already do today and how often hormone problems follow it.
The short version
In a review of past studies, most people did not get a new hormone problem after surgery for a pituitary tumor, but about one in six did.
What was studied. Researchers gathered 11 earlier studies covering 2,350 adults. All of them had surgery through the nose for a pituitary tumor that does not make extra hormones. The team looked at how many had new hormone problems afterward, and what made that more likely.
What they found. About 16% had a new hormone problem after surgery. That is about one in six people. Bigger tumors were linked to more hormone trouble, and people whose tumor was fully removed had less hormone trouble than people whose tumor was only partly removed. Age, sex, other health conditions, and the surgeon's experience were not linked to the risk.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: If you are facing this surgery, this gives a rough sense of the risk. Most people in these studies did not get a new hormone problem. Tumor size may matter, so it is fair to ask your doctor about your own tumor and about how much of it they expect to remove.
What it doesn't mean: This does not mean 16% is your personal risk. The researchers rated the strength of the evidence as low to very low, so these numbers could change as better studies are done. This is a review of past studies, not a new treatment and not a cure. It also does not settle the best time to have surgery. Use it as a question to bring to your own care team, not as an answer.
Source: PubMed, August 1, 2026 · Read the original
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