POSTOPERATIVE FINDINGS OF UNILATERAL STAPES SURGERY IN PATIENTS WITH BILATERAL OTOSCLEROSIS: DOES AGE OF PATIENTS AFFECT POST-SURGERY AUDIOLOGICAL RESULTS?
1İstanbul Medeniyet Üniversitesi, Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi, Odyoloji Bölümü, İstanbul, Türkiye2Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Sağlık Hizmetleri Meslek Yüksekokulu, Odyometri, İzmir, Türkiye
3Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Kulak Burun Boğaz Anabilim Dalı, İzmir, Türkiye Objective: The aim of the study was to analyze whether the air and bone conduction hearing thresholds and air-bone gap closure in patients with bilateral otosclerosis who underwent primary unilateral stapedotomy differ in individuals younger than 40 years of age and older in the first year postoperatively.
Materials and Methods: The files of otosclerosis patients with bilateral symmetrical conductive hearing loss who underwent unilateral primary stapedotomy were reviewed retrospectively. Preoperative and postoperative first year pure tone audiometry results of patients younger than 40 years of age were compared.
Results: It was determined that the mean (0.5-3kHz) pre- and postoperative air (respectively, p=0.001, p=0.003) and bone conduction hearing thresholds (respectively, p<0.001, p=0.004) were higher in the >40 age group. The pre- and postoperative 4000-8000Hz air conduction hearing threshold averages were also higher in the >40 age group (respectively, p=0.001, p=0.023). However, the mean pre- and postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) (respectively, p=0.705, p=0.772), mean postoperative bone conduction gain (p=0.899), and mean air-bone gap closure (p=0.659) did not differ significantly by age groups. The rates of preoperative ABG being 30dB and above and postoperative ABG of 10dB and below did not show a significant difference between the groups (respectively, p=0.574, p=0.443).
Conclusion: Although the mean pre- and postoperative air and bone conduction hearing thresholds of the patients aged 40 years and below at the time of the operation were significantly better than the group over 40 years of age; frequency-specific or mean pre- and postoperative ABG values and post-operative ABG closure values did not differ significantly.
Keywords : Otosclerosis, stapedotomy, air conduction hearing, bone conduction hearing, air-bone gap