Pediatric ossiculoplasty: optimizing outcomes.

Purpose Of Review: Despite years of research, pediatric ossiculoplasty remains a challenging surgery with numerous variables factoring into successful outcomes. The aim of this review is to summarize recent publications on surgical technique, timing, and reconstruction materials.

Recent Findings: The cause behind ossicular discontinuity does not seem to play a role in hearing results after ossiculoplasty; however, revision surgery is associated with worsening outcomes. The status of the ossicles remains an active area of interest, but the data remain mixed in terms of them playing a role in predicting outcomes in adults and pediatric patients. There remains debate regarding the utility of staging the reconstruction and is often undertaken on a case-by-case basis. Other recent publications highlight positive outcomes associated with canal wall-up procedures, titanium prostheses, and partial ossicular reconstruction prostheses. Endoscopic middle ear surgery in ossiculoplasty has been shown to be successful in monitoring and removal of disease and helpful in reconstruction.

Summary: Pediatric ossiculoplasty remains a challenging yet rewarding procedure. The bulk of publications are retrospective making much of the literature difficult to interpret. There remains a need for prospective and well controlled studies in both adult and pediatric populations.