Comparison of partial vs. total ossicular chain reconstruction using titanium prosthesis: a retrospective cohort study.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: Comparison of the hearing outcomes of titanium partial ossicular replacement prosthesis (PORP) vs. titanium total ossicular replacement prosthesis (TORP) with footplate shoe (Omega Connector) in second stage ossicular chain reconstruction surgeries. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study in a tertiary hospital, we compared the hearing outcomes in 248 patients who had undergone ossicular chain reconstruction with titanium prostheses PORP (n = 115) vs. TORP (n = 133) from August 2017 to June 2021. Pre-and post-operative audiometric data were assessed. RESULTS: In general, we found that there were no significant differences between PORP and TORP groups in gains of BC (P = 0.080), AC (P = 0.454), ABG (P = 0.928), SRT (P = 0.065), and SDS (P = 0.363). There were no significant differences in terms of ABG gain between the two groups. Regarding ABG gains frequency-specific analysis in the ears with pre-operative conductive hearing loss, there were no significant differences between low-frequencies (P = 0.260) and high-frequencies (P = 0.973) between the two groups. CONCLUSION: To sum up, this research provided additional evidence with respect to hearing outcomes after staged ossicular chain reconstruction with PORP and TORP. The practical application of our study is that TORP with footplate shoe (Omega Connector) is comparable with PORP in staged ossiculoplasty.