Stapedectomy: effect of type of anaesthesia on outcome results

ABSTRACT

The ideal type of anaesthesia which could offer maximum hearing results and least complications still a point of controversy in stapes surgery. This study was conducted on 20 patients suffering from conductive hearing loss [CHL] due to otosclerosis. Patients were classified into 2 groups; group [L] included 10 patients and were operated upon under local anaesthesia and group [G], included 10 patients, operated upon under general anaesthesia. All operations were performed at Otorhinolaryngology department; Benha Teaching Hospital. Our aim was to study the effect of type of anaesthesia, whether local or general on the outcome results of stapes surgery. Our results showed hearing gain in low and mid tone frequencies in both groups with no significant difference of air-bone gap posoperatively, while the high tone frequency in group [G] had a lower bone conduction threshold compared with that in group [L], indicating the more suffering of the cochlea. We concluded that stapes surgery is better to be operated under local anaesthesia than to be operated under general anaesthesia as it gives the surgeon and the patient good chance to protect the inner ear and to test the hearing on the operative table to the satisfactory level for both. However, general anaesthesia should be used with some indviduals especially anxious ones