Laser versus conventional fenestration in stapedotomy for otosclerosis: a systematic review.

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS To assess hearing results and complications following primary stapedotomy in otosclerosis patients comparing the use of laser and conventional techniques for fenestration. STUDY DESIGN Systematic literature review. METHODS A systematic bibliographic search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, and Scopus. Studies reporting original data on the effect of laser fenestration, compared to conventional techniques, on closure of air-bone gap in patients undergoing primary stapedotomy were included. Directness of evidence and risk of bias of the selected articles were assessed. Studies with low directness of evidence, high risk of bias, or both were not further analyzed. The absolute risks, risk differences, and 95% confidence intervals were extracted only for studies with moderate to high directness of evidence and moderate to low risk of bias. RESULTS In total, 383 unique studies were retrieved. Eight of these (including 999 procedures) provided high or moderate directness of evidence and carried a moderate risk of bias, and were considered eligible for data extraction. The included studies show no consistent difference in postoperative air-bone gap closure or immediate postoperative vertigo. CONCLUSIONS Both footplate fractures and sensorineural hearing loss appear to occur more frequently in the conventional group than in the laser group. Therefore, we prefer laser above conventional methods for footplate fenestration in primary stapedotomy. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE NA.