Traumatic ossicular chain discontinuity--report of two cases

In addition to hemotympanum and traumatic eardrum perforation, traumatic ossicular chain discontinuity should also be considered in the differential diagnosis of conductive hearing impairment resulting from head injury. The most common form of these ossicular chain lesions following head injury is incudostapedial joint (I-S joint) separation. We successfully managed two patients with I-S joint separation resulting from head injury through exploratory tympanotomy with ossiculoplasty within the recent 2 years. Both were young females who had sustained head injury resulting from traffic accident with the sequelae of persistent hearing impairment. They both gained significant hearing improvement postoperatively.