Incus Autograft Partial Ossicular Reconstruction Prosthesis vs. Titanium Angular Clip Prosthesis in Patients with Incudostapedial Joint Erosion Caused by Chronic Otitis Media; A Randomized Clinical Trial

Abstract

Chronic otitis media (COM) is a common disease that can cause damage to the middle ear ossicles and thus lead to conductive hearing loss. The purpose of this study was to compare two methods of incus partial ossicular reconstruction prosthesis (PORP) and reconstruction with titanium angular clip prosthesis in patients with incudostapedial joint erosion. In this interventional randomized clinical trial carried out in a tertiary referral hospital, patients with chronic otitis media and incudostapedial joint erosion who were candidates for surgery, were randomly allocated into two groups of incus PORP surgery and reconstruction with a titanium angular clip prosthesis. Audiometry was performed for the patients prior to and six months after surgery. Pre- and post-operative air–bone gap (ABG) and bone conduction (BC) thresholds were calculated and means were compared by analysis of variances (ANOVA). A P value of\u2009<0.05 was considered statistically significant. The study consisted of 24 and 14 subjects in the incus PORP and angular clip groups, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the mean pre- and post-operative ABG, BC thresholds and ABG reduction in the compared groups. Considering issues such as high cost and inaccessibility of titanium angular clips in all centers, incus PORP may be a more acceptable method.