Traumatic fracture of the stapes suprastructure following minor head injury

Traumatic fracture of the stapes occurs rarely following head injury. Ossicular dislocation is more commonly encountered. When present, stapes fractures are usually associated with an underlying temporal bone fracture. A higher incidence has been reported in childhood, possibly because of the greater flexibility of the skull in this age group. This report highlights the fact that these fractures can be associated with a relatively minor head injury. This possibility should be kept in mind when evaluating patients, especially children, who have a persistent conductive deafness of more than 30 dB with an intact tympanic membrane following any form of head injury. An exploratory tympanotomy with appropriate ossicular reconstruction, as described in this case, can yield excellent results.