Balance and Quality of Life After Surgery, Radiation, or Watchful Waiting
Original title: Effects of surgery, radiotherapy or surveillance on the objective vestibular function, vestibular symptoms and quality of life in vestibular schwannoma patients.
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.
All three of these choices are care that doctors can offer today.
The short version
People who just had checkups kept their balance the steadiest, but a year later all three groups felt about the same.
What was studied. Doctors followed adults with a vestibular schwannoma, a non-cancer tumor on the balance and hearing nerve. Some had surgery, some had radiation, and some only had regular checkups. Everyone took balance tests and filled out surveys before and after.
What they found. Abnormal balance test results stayed steady in the checkup group (57%) and the surgery group (93%). In the radiation group they went up from 77% to 92% by one year. Dizziness stayed steady with checkups, got worse after radiation, and got better after surgery. By one year, dizziness and quality of life scores were much the same in all three groups.
What this means, and what it doesn't
What it could mean: If your doctor offers you a choice, balance may change in a different way with each path. Surgery can hurt balance right away. Radiation may do it more slowly. A year out, how people felt day to day looked similar. You can ask your doctor what this means for your own case.
What it doesn't mean: This does not tell you which choice is right for you. It was one study at one hospital that simply watched how patients did. No new treatment was tested here, and nothing in it is a cure for the tumor. The three groups were not alike at the start, so the numbers may not fit your situation. It also does not promise that lost balance will come back.
Source: PubMed, October 20, 2026 · Read the original
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