Acoustic neuroma treatment often involves surgery to safely remove as much of the tumor as possible. Surgical goals include removing the tumor while preserving the facial nerve and, if possible, hearing.

Some acoustic neuromas are easy to separate from the facial nerve and surrounding brain tissue. In these situations, complete surgical removal is often possible. Other tumors are difficult to separate from surrounding tissue or located too close to certain areas of your brain or facial nerve. In these cases, surgery is more challenging, and doctors only remove as much of the tumor as is safe while maximizing the chance of preserving the facial nerve.

Surgery for acoustic neuroma is performed under general anesthesia. Stanford doctors will use one of three surgical approaches for safe and effective removal of the tumor. The optimal choice of approach will depend on the size of your tumor, and your preoperative neurological function.

Whether surgery is recommended depends on your individual presentation. Some tumors are so slow growing that they require only active surveillance for several months or even years, before treatment is recommended. In general, surgery is an option for any type of acoustic neuroma.