Teflon-wire piston or stainless-steel bucket stapes prosthesis: does it make a difference?

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Neurosurgery
• Biomedical Engineering

Background:

• Stapes surgery is a common procedure to restore hearing in patients with otosclerosis.
• The choice of prosthesis, such as the Teflon-wire piston or stainless-steel bucket prosthesis, may influence surgical outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of Teflon-wire piston versus stainless-steel bucket prostheses in stapes surgery.
• To evaluate hearing gain and air-bone gap overclosure between the two types of prostheses.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of 82 stapes surgeries performed by a single surgeon.
• Patients were divided into two groups: 41 receiving a Fisch Teflon-wire piston and 41 receiving a Bailey-modified Robinson stainless-steel bucket prosthesis.
• Outcomes measured included hearing gain (dB) and air-bone gap overclosure (dB).

Main Results:

• Mean hearing gain was 23.3 dB (primary) and 20.5 dB (revision) for the Teflon-wire piston group.
• Mean hearing gain was 20.7 dB (primary) and 20.3 dB (revision) for the stainless-steel bucket prosthesis group.
• Mean air-bone gap overclosure was 4.4 dB (primary) for Teflon-wire piston and 5.2 dB (primary) for stainless-steel bucket prosthesis.

Conclusions:

• No statistically significant difference was found in hearing gain between the Teflon-wire piston and stainless-steel bucket prostheses.
• No statistically significant difference was observed in air-bone gap overclosure between the two types of stapes prostheses.
• Both prostheses appear to offer comparable outcomes for stapes surgery.