Surgical treatment of otosclerosis in medical residency training

Abstract

From the results and complications seen in the present study, and analyzing papers from the literature, it is possible to conclude that stapedotomy is a procedure that can be included in residency programs, if there are surgical cases for the residents.

Stapedotomy in a residency training program

“…In this study, 68.4% of the patients achieved a postoperative gap less than or equal to 10 dB. This result is in agreement with other studies conducted in training centers in which the surgical success ranged from 48% to 87% [6][7][8][9][10][11] . An accurate comparison between studies is difficult and was not our goal.…”

“…The supervision of an otological surgeon is constant at all stages. This model is similar to the programs of other institutions 6,7 . In this study, 68.4% of the patients achieved a postoperative gap less than or equal to 10 dB.…”

“…Other studies in training institutions present this high discrepancy. Vernick 6 reported 13%, Freitas et al 7 obtained 15.8%, and Caldart et al 9 found a difference of 24.56%. This disparity in closure could be inconsequential to technical problems related to the level of experience of the surgeon.…”

“…There is a wide range of audiological criteria for evaluating surgical success. Most studies are retrospective and surgery or to ear surgery in general 7 . Mathews et al 15 reported a closure of the gap equal to 10 dB in 87% of the patients who underwent laser stapedotomy performed by residents.…”

“…Expert surgeons obtain the best results and achieve a success rate above 90%, with less than 1% sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) 3 . The success rates as high as these are not reached in most training centers [6][7][8][9][10][11] . Because stapedotomy is elective surgery, in which the major objective is hearing improvement, some authors question the training in stapes surgery during medical residency 6,11,12 .…”