July 15, 2011 – Stapedectomy is the surgical procedure of the middle ear through the ear canal, to improve the hearing. The procedure is mostly done after administering local or general anesthesia. The world’s first stapedectomy is credited to Dr. John J.Shea Jr. who performed it in 1956. Docturs.com/dd offers detailed information on stapedectomy including the pre-operative and post-operative care.
The stapedectomy procedure involves the removal of the innermost bone stapes from the other two – incus and malleus. This procedure is a very successful surgical treatment for deafness that is caused by the medical condition otosclerosis. And this medical condition can be diagnosed by the family history, symptoms and the results of the hearing tests of the patient. In some cases, the loss of hearing is gradual while some may experience balance problems, tinnitus or dizziness.
An ear specialist – otologist or audiologist, should administer the hearing test rather than the family doctor of the patient or any online doctors. It is necessary to determine whether the hearing loss of the patient is conductive i.e. caused by a lesion or a disorder in the middle ear or ear canal or is it sensorineural i.e. caused by an inner ear disorder. This determination test may also be done with the help of computed tomography (CT) scan or an x-ray study of the head.
There are two tests which are commonly used to distinguish between conductive and sensorineural hearing loss, and they are – Weber’s test and Rinne’s test. The latter includes an examination involving a vibrating tuning fork held against the mastoid bone and outside the ear canal. If the person suffers from conductive hearing loss, he will hear the tone as louder when the fork touches the bone, but in normal cases, the sound would be louder when held near the outer ear.
In the former option of Weber’s test, the vibrating tuning fork is held on the midline of the forehead and is questioned about in which ear the sound seems louder. The affected ear will hear the sound louder in the person with conductive hearing loss.
There may also be some risks attached to the stapedectomy procedure and the most serious risk is increase in hearing loss which is in about 1% of the patients. Due to this reason, the surgery is performed on only one ear at a time. The other complications may be ringing in ears, vertigo, change or lack of taste, partial facial nerve paralysis, perforated eardrum or damage of the bone chain attached to the eardrum. The vertigo may require surgery and it may be an indication of incomplete seal between the middle ear and inner ear fluids. Such a condition calls for immediate ear examination, bed rest and sometimes, an operation to reopen the eardrum to check the prosthesis.
Robert Danilov at Docturs talks in detail about the other parts of stapedectomy procedure. Docturs.com/dd is medical vertical offering detailed medical information for healthy living.
For more information visit http://docturs.com/dd/pg/groups/11314/stapedectomy/ for stapedectomy, Otoscopy, online doctors.
