Comparative Study Between Cartilage Interposition and Partial Ossicular Replacement Prosthesis in Ossiculoplasty

Background: The aim of this study was to compare the hearing outcome in patients who underwent ossiculoplasty with cartilage interposition versus those with partial ossicular replacement prosthesis. Methods: A total of 47 ears from 45 consecutive patients with ossicular discontinuity were enrolled in the study. Cartilage interposition was used in 27 consecutive cases (group A), and partial ossicular replacement prosthesis (group B) was performed in 20 consecutive cases. Preoperative and postoperative air conduction, bone conduction, and air-bone gap were evaluated and compared in both groups. Visual analog scale was used to give a rough indication of patients’ satisfaction with their hearing after surgery. Results: In group A, the average preoperative air-bone gap was 32.8 dB, while the average 12-month postoperative air-bone gap was 8.2 dB. The average preoperative and 12-month postoperative air-bone gap in group B was 29.6 and 9.5 dB, respectively. The difference between the preoperative and postoperative ABG was highly significant in both groups. However, no significant difference was noted between both groups in preoperative or postoperative air conduction, bone conduction, or air-bone gap. A postoperative air-bone gap at 12 months within 20 dB was achieved in 80.8% in group A and 76.2% in group B. This difference was not statistically significant. The difference between preoperative and postoperative hearing satisfaction measured by visual analog scale was significant in both groups (P < .001). However, the postoperative satisfaction level on visual analog scale showed no statistically significant difference between both groups. Conclusions: Both techniques yielded similar results where there was no significant difference between these 2 groups according to hearing results.