Stapes Surgery Teaching Tool: A Simple and Stable Technique

Abstract

Stapedotomy followed by placement of a piston prosthesis is the mainstay for surgical management of otosclerosis primarily undertaken to improve hearing in patients. Although a simple and elegant procedure, prosthesis placement in stapes surgery is difficult to master. Improper surgical technique or improper placement of prosthesis may result in complications which may require revision surgery. We here describe a training technique that is simple, inexpensive, improves the skills and can be done using easily available materials such as a disposable syringe, stapler pin and micro-forceps. Regular practice with this training module minimizes surgical time and can even be done just prior to the surgery, however, this is not a substitute for temporal bone dissections.

Hearing Improvement in the Patients Operated on Otosclerosis by Right-Handed Surgeons

“…Piston-type prostheses available for otosurgeons can be fixed by operators by manually tightening the loop on the long process of the incus or using a self-tightening element. 11,12 The stapes prostheses are self-tightening, being retained on the long process of the incus, and thanks to this structure, the clamping stage-one of the most difficult and unpredictable stages of stapes plastic surgery-is eliminated. The standard attachment on the incus, with no ''dangerous tightening,'' seems to make the operation principle of the selftightening element the optimal solution.…”