Endoscopic stapedotomy: our clinical experience

Endoscopic stapedotomy: our clinical experience. Objectives: To investigate the validity and utility of endoscopic stapes surgery. Materials and methods: Thirty-two ears of 31 patients in whom transcanal endoscopic stapes surgery and 32 ears of 25 patients in whom conventional microscopic stapes surgery performed for otosclerosis were retrospectively evaluated. Two groups were compared regarding postoperative hearing level, operation duration, need for scutum removal and chorda tympani handling, ease of prosthesis attachment, complications, as well as postoperative vertigo and pain. Results: In the endoscopic group, it was significantly less necessary to remove a part of the scutum and mobilize the chorda tympani; postoperative vertigo was also significantly lower. Rate of postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) closure to ≤10 dB HL was not different (81.2% vs 81.2%) between the groups and postoperative ABG was closed to ≤ 20 dB HL in both. Conclusion: Transcanal endoscopic stapes surgery is a valid minimal invasive procedure with less intraoperative chorda tympani manipulation and postoperative vertigo with similar postoperative audiological results as compared with microscopic stapes surgery