Abstract
Endoscopic ear surgery (EES) for middle ear surgery has progressed since the 1990s, with improvements in endoscopes, charged-coupled device (CCD) cameras, and light sources. EES is minimally invasive surgery with an excellent surgical view. Since endoscopes have wide views, they have enabled “keyhole” surgery, such as transcanal middle ear surgery. Furthermore, using angled endoscopes, even the posterior tympanum can be seen, which was called a “hidden space”. Nevertheless, EES has some disadvantages: it involves one-handed surgery and a two-dimensional view, while microscopic surgery can enable two-handed surgery and a three-dimensional view. We should not start to use EES until we understand its advantages and disadvantages. This article describes the theory of EES and outlines our tools, preparation, and methods for EES for beginners.
