Managing vestibular schwannomas with radiosurgery and radiotherapy: AGREE II appraisal of clinical practice guidelines

Introduction: Vestibular schwannomas (VSs) are rare, benign intracranial tumours that have prompted clinical practice guideline (CPG) creation given their complex management. Our aim was to utilize the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) instrument to assess if such CPGs on the management of VSs with radiosurgery and radiotherapy are of acceptable quality. Methods: Relevant CPGs were identified following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocols. Experienced reviewers then extracted general CPG properties and rated their quality via the AGREE II instrument. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were quantified to assess interrater reliability. Results: Nine CPGs on the management of VSs with radiosurgery and radiotherapy were identified. All CPGs were created in the past six years and developed recommendations based on literature review and expert consensus. One guideline was deemed as high quality with seven others being moderate and one being low in quality. The clarity of the presentation domain had the highest mean scaled domain score of 96.0%. The domains of stakeholder involvement and applicability had the lowest means of 49.2% and 47.2%, respectively. ICCs were either good or excellent across all domains. Conclusion: Current CPGs on the management of VSs with radiosurgery and radiotherapy are of acceptable quality but would greatly benefit from improvements in applicability, stakeholder involvement, editorial independence and rigour of development. We recommend CPG authors reference the European Association of Neuro-Oncology (EANO) guideline as a developmental framework with the Congress of Neurological Surgeons/American Association of Neurological Surgeons (CNS/AANS) CPG being a valid alternative.