Key Words: endoscopic, hearing loss, ossiculoplasty, tympanomastoidectomy, tympanoplasty
Level of evidence: 3
Introduction
Trans-canal endoscopic ear surgery (TEES) carries the benefits of enhanced visualization shorter operating times and no external incision. However, TEES does have the disadvantage of being a one-handed procedure and bleeding can jeopardize the visual field1 . Current literature suggests TEES provides similar audiometric, functional, and safety outcomes to those of microsurgery in tympanoplasty, cholesteatoma surgery and stapedectomy 2,3 . There are very few published studies on outcomes of TEES in ossiculoplasty. Our study aimed to compare audiometric outcomes of patients undergoing ossiculoplasty employing either the TEES or microsurgery approach performed by a single otologist.
Methods