Partial vs. total footplate removal in stapedectomy: a comparative study.

A comparative study of the postoperative stapedectomy results for 264 ears with partial footplate removal (PFR) and for 106 ears with total footplate removal (TFR) was performed with reference to decibel gain in three specific frequency ranges, air-bone gap closure, speech threshold and speech discrimination and incidence of postoperative complications. The data confirm a small but consistently greater decibel gain for PFR cases in the 2000-8000 Hz range; the decibel gain in the 250-1000 Hz range is virtually identical for PFR and TFR cases. Air-bone gap closure and speech results also indicate a somewhat better average result in PFR as compared TFR cases. The permanency of speech discrimination results is examined.