Vestibular schwannoma between 1 and 3cm: Importance of the tumor size in surgical and functional outcome

•Small increase in tumor size correlated with a significant deterioration of surgical outcome.•Tumor removal should be performed at the earliest stage possible.•We do not recommend the wait-and-see for intra/extrameatal tumors. The aim of the study was to compare the surgical and functional outcomes of the microsurgical osteoplastic retro-sigmoid approach in a semi-sitting position in two groups of patients with vestibular schwannomas (VSs) ranging from 1 to 3cm in size. A 5-year retrospective evaluation was made of these two groups of patients with VS: Patients with VS sizes 1–