[Stapes decompression].

Footplate decompression, which has been described in Lyon in 1965, can be easily performed under local anesthesia. The surgical procedure consists of a 8/10 mm diameter stapedotomy followed by an obturation with spongel, gelfoam or a piece of thin fascia. The operation is not a labyrinthectomy or a sacculotomy but aims to decompress endolymphatic hydrops in Ménière's disease. It must be realised only in case of typical unilateral Ménière's disease with disabling vertigo and very poor residual hearing. More than two hundred cases have been operated on. Vertigo has been relieved in 90% of the operated cases, tinnitus less severe in 50% of cases and hearing sometimes worse but often unchanged. In patients suffering from a unilateral Ménière's disease with disabling vertigo and poor residual hearing, footplate decompression appears to be one of the most simple safe and effective surgical procedures.