Glomus tumor surgery

Overview
Paraganglioma are rarely cancerous and do not tend to spread to other parts of the body. However, treatment may be needed to relieve symptoms. The main treatment is surgery. Surgery is complex and is usually done by both a neurosurgeon and a head and neck surgeon (neurotologist).

In some cases, a procedure called embolization is performed before surgery to prevent the tumor from bleeding too much during surgery.

After surgery, radiation therapy may be used to treat any part of the tumor that could not be removed completely.

Some glomus tumors can be treated with stereotactic radiosurgery.