Effect Of Stapedectomy On Both Cochlear And Vestibular Functions And Relationship:

Meddhat Shams El Din

(1)This study measured the early cochlear and vestibular disturbances after 100 primary stapedectomies performed on patients with preoperative good cochlear and vestibular reserve.(2)The study revealed that a labyrinthine reaction (both cochlear and vestibular) occurs in all cases in response to the trauma of footplate fenestration. It however, subsides in most cases within the first week. It may represent a form of serous labyrinthitis. This reaction gives rise to a reversible functional effect on both the cochlear and vestibular parts of the labyrinth.(3)from a prognostic point of view, we found that theB.C. response in the early stages (1 st week) gives auseful indication of the chances of a successfuloutcome. When there is an early failure, there is a high chance that it will persist, and when the early result is favourable. There is a little chance that this will not be maintained.(4)In addition, we found that there is no difference inB.C. thresholds of our patients exhibitingpostoperative affection of the vestibular functionthan the other patients. In other word, postoperativedisturbance of vestibular function does not seem to be interpretable as a poor prognostic sign as regards cochlear function at a short period in the follow up.Presumably, the vestibular function returns to normalin some cases during the first month followingstapedectomy.(5) Lastly, abnormal postoperative vestibular functionmay be present without a subjective complaint. Thismust be seriously respected when considering the second stapedectomy because if vestibular damage also occurs in the other ear, even a minor one, permanent impairment of balance and co-ordination may be produced.