Minimally Invasive Vestibular Neurectomy Versus Tenotomy of the Stapedius and Tensor Tympani Muscles in the Management of Patients With Unilateral Meniere's Disease

The distinctive symptoms of Meniere's disease (MD) include recurrent vertigo spells, fluctuating hearing loss, aural fullness and tinnitus. Conservative treatment in MD comprises lifestyle modifications, such as low-sodium diet, avoidance of caffeine, alcohol and stress, in addition to medication such as diuretics and betahistine. When conservative treatment fails, surgical management is attempted. Surgical interventions comprise transtympanic steroids or gentamicin, endolymphatic sac surgery (ES), ventilation tube placement, vestibular neurectomy, and labyrinthectomy. Recently, Loader et al. have presented encouraging results of the effectiveness of tenotomy of the stapedius and tensor tympani muscles (TSTM) in the management of patients with definite MD. Also, satisfactory results were obtained with endoscopic assisted minimally invasive vestibular neurectomy (MIVN). The aim of this study is to compare the clinical outcomes of MD patients who were submitted to either MIVN or TSTM in our department.