# Team-Based Long-Term Multidisciplinary Inpatient Neurological Rehabilitation After Surgery of Cerebral Meningioma—Outcome and Confounding Factors

## TL;DR

Long-term multidisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation improves recovery after meningioma surgery, especially in mobility and grooming.

## Contribution

Demonstrates effectiveness of long-term multidisciplinary rehabilitation for post-surgery meningioma patients.

## Key findings

- Statistically significant improvements in grooming, mobility, and climbing stairs after rehabilitation.
- Neuropsychological deficits are common, but speech difficulties are rare.
- The number of secondary diagnoses influences rehabilitation success.

## Abstract

What are the main findings?
Following the acute treatment of meningiomas, patients often experience post-operative deficits. Neuropsychological abnormalities are common, while speech difficulties are less frequent.Long-term multidisciplinary inpatient neurological rehabilitation appears to be effective in patients following surgical treatment of meningiomas. Statistically significant improvements were found in the areas of grooming, mobility, and climbing stairs. The number of secondary diagnoses has an influence on rehabilitation success. One limitation of our study is that the natural course after surgery without rehabilitation should also be considered.

Following the acute treatment of meningiomas, patients often experience post-operative deficits. Neuropsychological abnormalities are common, while speech difficulties are less frequent.

Long-term multidisciplinary inpatient neurological rehabilitation appears to be effective in patients following surgical treatment of meningiomas. Statistically significant improvements were found in the areas of grooming, mobility, and climbing stairs. The number of secondary diagnoses has an influence on rehabilitation success. One limitation of our study is that the natural course after surgery without rehabilitation should also be considered.

What are the implications of the main findings?
All patients with postoperative deficits should undergo long-term multidisciplinary inpatient neurological rehabilitation, ideally in a specialized clinic.Further studies with a matched control group would be desirable to verify our hypothesis of effectiveness, and optimal intensity, timing, long-term outcome, and modality of rehabilitation should be further investigated.

All patients with postoperative deficits should undergo long-term multidisciplinary inpatient neurological rehabilitation, ideally in a specialized clinic.

Further studies with a matched control group would be desirable to verify our hypothesis of effectiveness, and optimal intensity, timing, long-term outcome, and modality of rehabilitation should be further investigated.

Objective: Cerebral meningiomas are the most common primary intracranial tumors in adults. Treatment of symptomatic tumors is normally surgical; tumors not suitable for surgery can be irradiated. While there is good data on the effectiveness of acute therapy, little is known about the effects of long-term team-based multidisciplinary inpatient neurological rehabilitation. We analyzed the outcome of these patients undergoing neurological rehabilitation. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with cerebral meningioma who underwent specialized rehabilitation. We analyzed routine demographic and clinical data; the outcome was measured with the Barthel Index (BI) in patients with a BI of ≤90 on admission. Results: We analyzed 151 patients. Neuropsychological deficits were evident in 93 patients, and 9% had speech disorders. BI increased from 66.8 to 75.2%. Examination of factors influencing treatment success revealed that the number of secondary diagnoses had an influence on the average increase in the BI. No correlation was found for the other independent variables, including age, sex, tumor localization, stage, resection (complete or incomplete), complications, and length of stay. Conclusions: Even given the limitations of our analysis, rehabilitation appears to be effective in these patients. However, further investigations with a matched control group would be desirable to verify our hypothesis. Furthermore, studies regarding optimal intensity, timing, long-term outcome, and modality of rehabilitation are necessary.