The world’s first Endoscopic Transcanal Excision of Facial Nerve Schwannoma was successfully performed at Apollo Cancer Centre, Bangalore.

With a focus on innovating new techniques for the treatment of rare cancer cases, Apollo Cancer Centre, Bangalore, has been at the forefront of battling cancer with advanced care. Apollo’s vision is to deliberate the emerging trends in cancer management and their impact on clinical practice thus bringing a ray of hope to 3.5 billion people from over 147 countries.

Dr Satish Nair, Senior Consultant, ENT & Head and Neck Oncology, Apollo Cancer Centre, Bangalore, along with a team of medical experts performed an endoscopic trans canal excision of facial nerve schwannoma on a 35-year-old patient who was suffering from right-sided facial weakness for the last two years. This is for the first time in the world that the principles of head and neck, lateral skull-base approach, and endoscopic techniques were used together to retain the entire functionality of the ear.

The team did an otoendoscopy that revealed a pinkish-pale non-pulsatile mass behind the intact tympanic membrane at the posterosuperior quadrant. Further examination showed that the patient had right-sided Grade V lower motor neuronal facial palsy and the high-resolution computed tomography of Temporal Bone revealed a mass in the facial recess eroding the posterior genu of the facial nerve, which suggests facial nerve schwannoma.

The surgery lasted for two hours wherein the team of doctors performed endoscopic trans canal excision of facial nerve schwannoma with cable grafting using the greater auricular nerve. The patient was discharged on the second post-operative day without any complications.

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