Stapedotomy in a residency training program.

INTRODUCTION The major objective of a stapedotomy is the restoration of hearing. In training centers, the hearing results obtained by resident physicians are lower than those achieved by more experienced surgeons. An analysis of the surgical results obtained by resident physicians is essential to identification of the deficiencies in the learning process. OBJECTIVE To analyze the postoperative hearing results obtained by otosclerosis patients who underwent stapedotomy performed by surgeons in a residency program. METHODS The pre- and postoperative audiometric results were evaluated in a retrospective study of 98 otosclerosis patients who underwent stapedotomy from January 2000 to December 2010. RESULTS The distribution of patients according to the postoperative results was as follows: 68.4% of the patients achieved a postoperative gap of less than or equal to 10 dB, and 91.8% of the patients achieved a postoperative gap of less than or equal to 20 dB. Three (3.1%) patients had profound sensorineural hearing loss after the procedure. CONCLUSIONS An improvement in surgical outcomes of doctors in training is essential for the continuation of training for stapes surgery during medical residency.