Labyrinthectomy versus vestibular neurectomy: long-term physiologic and clinical outcomes.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether long-term vestibular compensation (VC) and clinical outcomes differ after transmastoid labyrinthectomy (TML) versus retrolabyrinthine vestibular neurectomy (RVNS).

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, observational study.

SETTING: Tertiary care, university hospital.

PATIENTS: Twenty-one subjects were studied several years after they were relieved of spontaneous episodic vertigo caused by peripheral vestibular disease by TML or RVNS.

INTERVENTIONS: All patients had undergone TML or RVNS more than 2.5 years before the study and returned for physiologic and functional studies of vestibular compensation.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Completeness of physiologic VC, as assessed by electronystagmography and rotational chair testing; performance on computerized dynamic posturography; pure-tone and speech audiometry; self-assessment of balance and hearing function with validated survey instruments.

RESULTS: There were no differences in the incidence of physiologic VC or functional recovery between the TML and RVNS subjects. Although a majority of subjects in each group had evidence of incomplete vestibular compensation, there was no difference in self-assessment of balance or hearing handicap at long-term follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: Long-term clinical balance and hearing outcomes are equivalent when TML and RVNS successfully cure spontaneous, episodic vertigo. There is a high incidence of incomplete VC after both procedures, though this does not usually produce a significant balance handicap.