Stapedius tendon reconstruction during stapedotomy: technique and results

During surgery for otosclerosis, it is common for the surgeon to cut the stapedius tendon. Even without reconstruction of the tendon, the results of this kind of surgery are particularly satisfactory. The stapedial reflex is more important for improving intelligibility of speech in the presence of background noise than for protection against hazardous levels of noise. An intact stapedial reflex improves ones ability to follow speech in the presence of background noise. This report will present a technique to reconstruct the stapedius tendon, along with the results obtained when adding this procedure to stapedotomy surgery.