Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-fbnjt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T11:57:02.036Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Post-stapedectomy granuloma: a devastating complication

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 March 2017

E Watts*
Affiliation:
ENT Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, UK
H R F Powell
Affiliation:
ENT Department, Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London, UK
S R Saeed
Affiliation:
ENT Department, Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital, London, UK ENT Department, London Clinic, London, UK
R M Irving
Affiliation:
ENT Department, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Dr Emma Watts, ENT Department, Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre, Birmingham B15 2TH, UK E-mail: dremmawatts@gmail.com

Abstract

Objectives:

This paper reports three cases of severe post-stapedectomy granuloma, emphasising the variable presentation of this devastating complication and the challenges of its management.

Methods:

A retrospective review was conducted of three cases of post-stapedectomy granuloma requiring surgical debulking between 2010 and 2015. Clinical symptoms, serial imaging, histopathology and post-operative outcomes were considered.

Results:

Intra-operatively, extensive granulation tissue with erosion of the otic capsule was found. There was spread along the VIIth and VIIIth cranial nerves to the cochlear nucleus in one patient. Post-operative clinical improvement was demonstrable, corroborated by diminution of contrast enhancement on serial magnetic resonance imaging. Facial nerve function recovered, tinnitus amelioration was variable and some otalgia persisted. Post-operative complications included grade IV facial weakness and late Pseudomonas aeruginosa meningitis, which all resolved.

Conclusion:

To the authors’ knowledge, this paper reports the only case of post-stapedectomy granuloma tracking to the brainstem. Otalgia was present in all our cases, and may be deemed a red flag symptom of progressive bony destruction and otic capsule involvement. Although granuloma remains rare, it should be considered in any patient with worsening otological symptoms following stapes surgery.

Type
Clinical Record
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1 Causse, JB, Causse, JR, Wiet, RJ, Yoo, TJ. Complications of stapedectomies. Am J Otol 1983;4:275–80Google ScholarPubMed
2 Glasscock, ME 3rd, Storper, IS, Haynes, DS, Bohrer, PS. Twenty-five years of experience with stapedectomy. Laryngoscope 1995;105:899904 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3 Harris, I, Weiss, L. Granulomatous complications of oval window fat grafts. Laryngoscope 1962;72:870–85CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4 Seicshnaydre, MA, Sismanis, A, Hughes, GB. Update of reparative granuloma: survey of the American Otological Society and the American Neurotology Society. Am J Otol 1994;15:155–60Google ScholarPubMed
5 Burtner, D, Goodman, ML. Etiological factors in poststapedectomy granulomas. Arch Otolaryngol 1974;100:171–3Google Scholar
6 Fenton, JE, Turner, J, Shirazi, A, Fagan, PA. Post-stapedectomy reparative granuloma: a misnomer. J Laryngol Otol 1996;110:185–8CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7 Mahadevaiah, A, Parikh, B, Kumaraswamy, K. Reparative granuloma following stapes surgery. Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2007;59:346–8Google Scholar
8 Wiet, RJ, Harvey, SA, Bauer, GP. Complications in stapes surgery: options for prevention and management. Otolaryngol Clin North Am 1993;26:471–90Google Scholar
9 Kaufman, RS, Schuknecht, HF. Reparative granuloma following stapedectomy: a clinical entity. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1967;76:1008–17Google Scholar
10 Gacek, RR. The diagnosis and treatment of poststapedectomy granuloma. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1970;79:970–5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11 Dawes, JD, Cameron, DS, Curry, AR, Rannie, I. Post-stapedectomy granuloma of the oval window. J Laryngol Otol 1973;87:365–78Google Scholar
12 Shea, JJ Jr. Fenestration of the oval window. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol 1958;67:932–51CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13 Tange, RA, Schimanski, G, van Lange, JW, Grolman, W, Zuur, LC. Reparative granuloma seen in cases of gold piston implantation after stapes surgery for otosclerosis. Auris Nasus Larynx 2002;29:710 Google Scholar
14 Hough, JV, Dyer, RK Jr. Stapedectomy: causes of failure and revision surgery in otosclerosis. Otolaryngol Clin North Am 1993;26:453–70CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed