Audiological results after stapedoplasty with a NiTiFLEX-prosthesis

Introduction Various prostheses are available for stapedoplasty. In our clinic, the NiTiFLEX stapes prosthesis, introduced in 2014, a further development of the Soft-CliP, is the preferred stapes prosthesis. A retrospective analysis was done to evaluate, whether the good audiological results shown in a smaller case series (n = 21) (Zirkler et al. 2016) were confirmed in a larger cohort.

Material and methods: In a single-center, retrospective study, pure tone (air bone gap [ABG], 4PTA_0,5–4kHz) and speech audiometric (monosyllabic comprehension at 65 and 80dB SPL) changes in patients were measured three months postoperatively after stapedoplasty with a NiTiFLEX stapes prosthesis with a piston diameter of 0.4 mm.

Results From April 2014 to June 2020, a total of 137 NiTiFLEX stapes prostheses were used. Thirty patients with revision surgery, labyrinthitis and interventions without LASER were excluded. Thus, 107 patients with a NiTiFLEX stapes prosthesis (0.4mm) in combination with a LASER stapedotomy were included in the analysis. The mean ABG improved on average from 28,5 dB HL preoperatively to 11,0 dB HL postoperatively. The word recognition score improved from 26  %  to 65  %  at 65dB SPL and from 59  %  to 85  %  at 80dB SPL.

Conclusion The audiological results were comparable to those with other prostheses, while at the same time good intraoperative handling has already been proven in another study based on the super-elastic nitinol clip.

Poster-PDF A-1698.pdf

Publication History

Article published online:
13 May 2021