Stapedotomy-hough technique to correct otosclerosis

Abstract

The stapes, the smallest bone in the human body, is the third component in the tympano-ossicular chain of the middle ear. Otosclerosis is a disease that can cause stapes fixation, resulting in different kind of hearing losses. It is a disorder that involves the growth of abnormal bone around stapes footplate. The tonal and vocal audiometry, tympanometry, and acoustic reflexes, are the most used diagnostic tests. The treatment can be done by amplification with hearing aids or more effective, by surgery. To correct small focus of otosclerosis, Hough, in 1960, suggested the implementation of a technique (Figure 1) in which part of the anterior crura is breached and the posterior one is rotated, getting only the connection between the stapes footplate and the inner ear made through the posterior crura [Glasscock et al., 1995].