Stapes Surgery for Otosclerosis: Audiometric and Self-Reported Hearing Outcomes

Abstract

Background. Stapes surgery is widely used to treat otosclerosis and its effectiveness is reported in audiometric terms -closure of the preoperative air-bone gap and improvement in air conduction thresholds. The objective of our study was to measure audiometric and self-assessed hearing changes in otosclerosis patients after stapes surgery. A secondary objective was to gauge the relationship between self-reported hearing and audiometric hearing thresholds.Materials and Methods. This prospective study included 236 patients with otosclerosis who underwent primary stapedotomy. The Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit questionnaire (APHAB) was used to measure subjective hearing before surgery and 6 months postoperatively. Pure-tone audiometry was also conducted at the same observation periods.Results. The air-and bone-conduction thresholds, as well as the air-bone gap, confirmed that there was a significant improvement in hearing. The difference between the pre-and postoperative APHAB Total score was 26.7 points and was statistically significant (p < 0.001). A weak correlation was found between the pre-and postoperative change of APHAB Total score and air conduction thresholds (rho = 0.23; p < 0.01) as well as between the change in the APHAB Total score and the size of the air-bone gap (rho = 0.19; p < 0.05). Conclusion.The results of the audiometric tests demonstrate the effectiveness of stapedotomy in improving the hearing of the majority of patients. However, audiometric results give limited information about the status of the patient's hearing. The patient's subjective perspective, together with the audiometric data, provide valuable information that can be helpful in clinical decision-making and counselling.