A comparison between conventional stapedectomy and KTP-532 laser stapedectomy

Introduction: Otosclerosis is a primary and exclusive disease of the otic capsule, known to affect spontaneously only humans. The most classical manifestation is conductive hearing loss secondary to stapedial fixation. Perkins introduced argon laser stapedotomy in 1980 because it appeared that laser offered some technical advantage over conventional techniques. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective study of 20 cases of stapedial otosclerosis (10 cases in each group) operated during a period of 5 years. Our study compares a series of potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) 532 laser stapedectomy (LS) with a series of conventional stapedectomy (CS) with respect to technical advantages, hearing results, and complications. Paired students t test was used for statistical analysis of the data. Results and Conclusion: (i) KTP LS using 0.6mm fibre is a safe and efficient technique. (ii) LS is technically less difficult, produces an atraumatic, bloodless opening in the footplate of stapes without mechanical manipulation of the stapes. (iii) The air-bone gap closure is better in laser group.