What is a stapedectomy?

A stapedectomy is a surgical procedure aimed at improving hearing, particularly in patients who suffer from conductive hearing loss caused by the immobility or fixation of the stapes bone in the middle ear. During this procedure, the defective stapes bone is removed and typically replaced with a prosthetic device. This allows for the restoration of sound transmission to the inner ear, thereby enhancing the patient's ability to hear.

The other options do not pertain to the function of a stapedectomy. The removal of the uterus is known as a hysterectomy, which is unrelated to ear surgery. Crushing kidney stones refers to a procedure like lithotripsy, which has no connection to the auditory system. A technique to repair a membrane in the ear could refer to tympanoplasty or similar procedures but does not accurately describe a stapedectomy’s focus on the stapes bone and its role in hearing. Therefore, the choice of a surgery to improve hearing by replacing an ear bone correctly identifies the purpose of a stapedectomy.