A Case for Endoscopic Surgery: How Personal Experience Influenced Pursuit of a New Skill

I continue to routinely perform endoscopic ear surgery. Adopting it made sense to me; it fits in my practice and with my experience. Developing the skills took some time but did not require a significant amount of new resources. I feel fortunate. My experience as a patient has allowed me to better describe surgery and the post-operative experience to my patients. Sometimes I will describe my experience to them. I feel strongly that, in many cases, endoscopic ear surgery is in their best interest, and I am confident when I make that recommendation.

Dr. Wycherly is an otolaryngology–head and neck surgeon at the Ear, Nose & Throat Institute of Connecticut.