Determining the Incidence of Complications and Their Causes after Stapedotomy in Patients with Otosclerosis

Introduction: In order to treat the symptoms of otosclerosis, various surgical and medical treatments are suggested. Surgical treatments are the choice. This study aimed to determine the incidence of vertigo and its cause in Iran, and the present study focused on this issue.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study carried out on patients with otosclerosis undergoing stapedotomy referred to Rasoul Akram hospital, Tehran during 2017-18. The patients aged below 18 or those who had a history of vertigo were excluded. Diapasonic and audiometric tests were carried out. The follow-ups included the time of admission (the day after surgery) for the presence of vertigo using visual analogue scale and diapasonic tests, one week after surgery using visual analogue scale and diapasonic tests, and one month after surgery using visual analogue scale and audiometry. The data were imported to SPSS v.22 software and analyzed.

Results: The surgical complications that occurred after stapedotomy for patients in this center were as follows: 12.1%of subjects had vertigo one day after surgery, 8.6% had vertigo one week later, and 1.7% had vertigo one month later, thus, the frequency of vertigo was reduced overtime. Meanwhile, 91.4% of the patients had a better sense of hearing and only 1.7% suffered from tympanic membrane perforation. In 8.6% of subjects, there was a disturbance in the taste. Tinnitus was only observed in 5.2% of the surgical patients in this center. Among women, vertigo was higher one day and one week after surgery. Logistic regression showed that age is significant predictor of dizziness one day after surgery (OR: 1.37, P=0.03).

Conclusion: According to the results, the frequency of vertigo was decreased overtime. In this study, it was found that the complications of stapedotomy surgery were less than other surgical methods, but those who were older had significantly higher vertigo a week and one day after surgery indicating effective role of age on postoperative complications. Those who underwent surgery by tympanomeatal method had a better vertigo one day and one week after surgery.