Experience with stapedectomy in a developing country: a review of 200 cases

Since stapedectomy was first performed in 1956, many innovations have been described. We retrospectively analyzed 200 cases of stapedectomy that had been performed with standard otologic instruments. Of the 200 patients, 54 (27.0%) had significant sensory deafness associated with footplate fixation. In most cases, the footplate was partially removed (stapedotomy group); in the remainder, the footplate was removed in its entirety or subtotally (stapedectomy group). Of the 200 patients, 163 were available for short-term follow-up. The air-bone gap was closed to within 10 dB in roughly 83% of both groups. Although long-term follow-up was possible in only a limited number of cases, we believe that an experienced otologist working with standard equipment and a basic operating microscope can obtain satisfactory stapedectomy results with minimal complications.