Comparison of hearing outcomes in stapedotomy with fat and Hyaluronic acid gel as a sealing material: a prospective double-blind randomized clinical trial.

PURPOSE: In the literature on stapes surgery, various materials have been used to seal the vestibulotomy. To date, there are only a few published randomized clinical trials with focus on hearing outcomes, using different sealing materials. Hence, the aim of this study was to compare hearing outcomes when using fat or Hyaluronic acid gel (HAG) to seal the stapedotomy.

METHODS

The present double-blind, prospective, randomized clinical trial was conducted on ears undergoing stapedotomy in Dasthgheib Hospital, a referral otology center in Southern Iran, and Dena private hospital, Shiraz Iran. A total of 150 primary stapedotomies were evaluated, and sealing material was fat in 77 ears and HAG in 73.

RESULTS

60 (77.9%) of the fat group ears and 63 (86.3%) of the HAG group ears obtained postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) within 20 dB, but the difference was not significant (p = 0.182).

CONCLUSION

As a sealing material in stapedotomy, HAG is comparable with fat in terms of hearing outcomes. Therefore, HAG is recommended as a safe sealing material in stapedotomy.