Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 30, 2025
The Microscopic Transcanal Approach in Stapes Surgery Revisited
Published on: February 16, 2022
Quantifying the effect of shoulder size on operation duration: an analysis of stapes surgery outcomes
Christopher P Lenkeit1,2, Christian G Fritz1,3, Jonathan S Choi1
1Michigan Ear Institute, Farmington Hills, Michigan, USA.
Objective:
To investigate the effect of body mass index on hearing outcomes, operative time and complication rates following stapes surgery.
Method:
This is a five-year retrospective review of 402 charts from a single tertiary otology referral centre from 2015 to 2020.
Results:
When the patient's shoulder was adjacent to the surgeon's dominant hand, the average operative time of 40 minutes increased to 70 minutes because of a significant positive association between higher body mass index and longer operative times (normal body mass index group (<25 kg/m2) r = 0.273, p = 0.032; overweight body mass index group (25-30 kg/m2) r = 0.265, p = 0.019). Operative times were not significantly longer upon comparison of low and high body mass index groups without stratification by laterality (54.9 ± 19.6 minutes vs 57.8 ± 19.2 minutes, p = 0.127).
Conclusion:
There is a clinically significant relationship between body mass index and operating times. This may be due to access limitations imposed by shoulder size.
