[Surgical treatment of vertigo]

Some types of incapacitating otologic vertigo can be successfully treated by surgery. Episodes of vertigo in Ménière's disease can be precluded either by so-called "draining" operations such as shunt of the saccus endolymphaticus, sacculotomy or cochleosacculotomy, or by ablations such as selective vestibular nerve neurectomy or labyrinthectomy. Persistent positional vertigo can be cured either by selective neurectomy of the posterior canal nerve, or by occlusion of the posterior semicircular canal. Vertigo can be caused by fistulas of the inner ear, which can be plugged with bone wax or grease. Vertigo caused by hypermobility of the stapes can be cured by surgically consolidating the ossicle chain. Surgical treatment only applies to a small minority of cases of vertigo (approximately 1.5%), but if the indication is well determined and surgery is performed in an appropriate medical and technical setting, the results can be highly satisfactory.