Auditory results of surgical treatment of otosclerosis in the Department of Otolaryngology of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Abstract

Introduction: Otosclerosis represents the most common cause of hearing loss in young adults. Treatment options include amplification with hearing aids or surgical reso- lution with surgeries such as total and partial stapedectomy, stapedostomy or cochlear implant. Aim: To describe the results of the surgical treatment of otosclerosis in the Otorhi- nolaryngology Department of the Clinical Hospital of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile between the years 1999 and 2018. Material and method: A non-concurrent cohort study was performed with review of clinical files and operative protocols of patients seen in our center. The biodemographic characteristics of the patients, surgical techniques, auditory results, complications, need for reoperation and use of hearing aid were recorded and analyzed. Results: Of a total of 78 patients undergoing partial stapedectomy or stapedostomy, 37 were finally included, who had complete clinical data, which corresponds to 47.4% of the total. In both types of surgery, the average bone-air gap varied from 30.8 dB in the preoperative to 13.9 dB in the postoperative period, which is statistically significant. Regarding the average of variation of the airway, this was higher in the group of patients operated by stapedostomy without statistically significant differences when performing nonparametric tests. Conclusion: The demographic characteristics and the auditory results obtained in our center are comparable with those described in the literature. There are no significant differences in the type of surgery and the frequency and type of complications, although better hearing results are observed in patients operated by stapedostomy.