STAPEDECTOMY IN PATIENTS WITH SMALL AIR-BONE GAPS

Controversy exists concerning stapedectomy for patients with small air -bone gaps. The purpose of this study was to examine the results for p atients who had a stapedectomy to correct a small (10 dB or less) air- bone gap. One hundred fifty-four patients with suspected otosclerosis were explored and a stapedectomy was performed in 136 (88.3%) of these cases. The mean pure-tone average (PTA) improved 16.7 dB and overdose d the preoperative bone conduction PTA by 8.1 dB. The majority of the stapedectomy patients (89.7%) had a PTA closure greater than or equal to 0 dB. These results showed that stapedectomy can be an effective pr ocedure for eliminating and overdosing even small air-bone gaps due to otosclerosis.