Veria Operation. II. Surgical results from 101 cases.

The 'Veria operation' is a new technique for cochlear implantation. It is a non-mastoidectomy technique and uses the endaural approach for the cochleostomy and a direct tunnel drilled through the supero-posterior bony canal wall for the electrode. Two special instruments have been developed for this technique: a special perforator for the drilling of the direct tunnel and a safety electrode forceps for the insertion of the electrode. The method has been used in 101 cases with an age range from 2.5 to 75 years. 78 of them were primary operations and 23 revision cases. From the revisions, 18 were surgical failures and 5 were device failures. There were two complications: in 1 case there was a thick skin flap, which was corrected under local anesthesia, and in 1 malformation case there was a retrograde insertion to the vestibule and the posterior semicircular canal, corrected 6 weeks later. The analysis of the results shows that this method has certain advantages, which are: it is simple and therefore the learning curve is fast; it is safe for the facial nerve, as the drilling is precisely controlled by the special perforator; it produces minimal bone trauma and due to fast healing, it permits early fitting a few days after operation; it is suitable for the difficult and revision cases and it can be used for very small children where the mastoid may have not been yet sufficiently developed.