Success of stapedectomy performed by residents

A retrospective study of 240 stapedectomies for otosclerosis performed in a teaching department during the last 10 years was done. The results and complications in patients operated on by residents and faculty were compared. Strict criteria for evaluating the surgical outcome were used. "Satisfactory" results obtained by residents during their entire training (79 per cent) were significantly poorer (P greater than 0.05) than those achieved by the faculty (90 per cent). In the second period of residency, however, the residents' success rate (89 per cent) was equal to that of the faculty. There was no statistically significant difference in the complication rate between residents and faculty. Two essential conditions are responsible for good stapedectomy results by residents: experience with sufficient numbers of patients requiring middle-ear surgery (including otosclerosis and chronic middle-ear disease) and close supervision by the faculty in the operating room.