title: Hammer sound elicited tinnitus in car body repair worker cured by stapedial tenotomy - A case report.
abstract: Abnormal auditory sensations or tinnitus caused by abnormal middle ear muscle contraction are extremely rare and uncomfortable for patients. A 67-year-old man who performed paint and body work for cars presented at our hospital with complaint of an audible and annoying abnormal sound that was synchronous with the striking of his hammer against the metal of the car body during his work. The patient reported that the sound was audible of left ear with a split-second delay after his hammer struck the metal. Preoperative subjective and objective testing failed to reveal any abnormal findings in our case. The patient's symptom was successfully cured by selective transection of the stapedius tendon. The characteristic nature of tinnitus with a split-second delay after striking the metal helped our diagnosis and method of intervention in this case.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan; Sen-En Rifu Otological Surgery Center, Sendai, Japan. Electronic address: ryoukich@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Ryoukichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hidaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan; Sen-En Rifu Otological Surgery Center, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Miyazaki
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawase
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Katori
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan; Sen-En Rifu Otological Surgery Center, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshimitsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009119:Muscle Contraction; D013198:Stapedius / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D058971:Tenotomy / Q000379:methods*; D014012:Tinnitus / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*
keywords: Middle ear muscle contraction; Middle ear surgery; Stapedius tendon; Tinnitus