What treatments are available for otosclerosis?
Surgery has been available for a long time. The first operations were carried out in the 1870s, although these early attempts (without microscopes or antibiotics) sometimes had unfortunate results for both the ear and the patient. However, by the late 1930s an effective technique called ‘fenestration’ had become very popular. Although the immediate results were good, over time the condition would return. Until recently the standard procedure was a ‘stapedectomy’ (that is, the removal of the stapes). This is a relatively simple operation lasting about an hour, and is performed down the ear canal with the aid of an operating microscope. There are no visible signs of surgery. During this procedure the eardrum is turned forward allowing the surgeon access to the ossicles. The stapes, a stirrup shaped bone, is removed and replaced with a small prosthesis. This is placed between the oval window of the cochlea (or inner ear) and the incus, the middle bone in the ossicular chain, restoring the
