title: Perioperative steroids for peritumoral intracranial edema:  a review of mechanisms, efficacy, and side effects.
abstract: There has been a renewed interest in the recent literature regarding the proposed benefits of systemic steroids in the perioperative period. Among these benefits are the relief of postoperative pain, the decrease in postoperative nausea, and a higher overall multiparameter quality of recovery. Perioperative steroids, however, are not without their potential drawbacks, including decreased immune function, hyperglycemia, and impaired wound healing. The use of perioperative steroids for brain tumor treatment and resection has been a component of therapy for approximately 50 years, owing primarily to their well-described, although poorly understood, effect in minimizing vasogenic peritumoral edema, and therefore intracranial pressure. This review seeks to highlight the history, mechanisms, therapeutic efficacy, and side effects of steroid use for brain tumors in the perioperative period.
authors.affiliation: Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL 60611, USA. j-bebawy@northwestern.edu
authors.forename: John Farouk
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Bebawy
mesh_terms: D001851:Bone Diseases, Metabolic / Q000139:chemically induced; D001929:Brain Edema / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004347:Drug Interactions; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System / Q000187:drug effects; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000139:chemically induced; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D010149:Postoperative Pain / Q000517:prevention & control; D019990:Perioperative Care / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D020250:Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting / Q000517:prevention & control; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D005938:Glucocorticoids