Intraoperative facial nerve monitoring in chronic ear surgery: a resident training experience

Intraoperative facial nerve monitoring has been accepted as a valuable adjunctive modality to be employed in a variety of neurotologic and skull base surgical procedures. However, the role that electrical or mechanical stimulation assessment plays in chronic ear surgery is less well defined, especially in a residency training program. In this study, 250 consecutive operative cases of chronic otitis media, with and without cholesteatoma were monitored with the Xomed-Treace Nerve Integrity Monitor, NIM-2 system. Data regarding electrophysiologic monitoring parameters; electromechanical artifact, including system failure; and surgical outcome were analyzed. Although not a substitute for anatomic identification of the facial nerve, intraoperative monitoring provides an additional technique to optimize resident surgical education.