Comparison between Fluoroplastic and Platinum/Titanium Piston in Stapedotomy: A Prospective, Randomized Clinical Study.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study was to compare hearing results of fluoroplastic (Teflon) Causse Loop Piston with platinum/titanium (Big Easy) Piston in patients who underwent stapedotomy due to otosclerosis.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

In this prospective randomized clinical trial study, Causse Loop Piston prosthesis was used in 76 ears and the Big Easy Piston prosthesis in 72 ears. The main outcomes were preoperative and postoperative pure tone audiometry and air-bone gap (ABG).

RESULTS

Postoperative ABG closure was not significantly different between both groups. However, the Causse Loop Piston resulted in a significant improvement of the air conduction (AC) in frequencies of 250, 500, and 1,000 Hz. In addition, the improvement of speech reception threshold (SRT) was significantly higher in Causse Loop Piston group.

CONCLUSION

We achieved similar postoperative ABG closure in short-term with both prostheses. However, at low frequencies, AC gain was higher in Causse Loop Piston group. In addition, patients in this group yielded better SRT.