Restoration of hearing in otosclerotic deafness depends on being able to reestablish the ossicular conductive mechanism so that air-borne sounds will reach the cochlea. Inability to relieve the stapes ankylosis, which is responsible for the hearing loss, is the reason that mobilization surgery fails. Whether the stapes can be mobilized completely, with both crura and the footplate intact, depends on the degree of fixation and the anatomical structure of the stapes.1 Occasionally, when the crura fracture, part of or the entire footplate will be simultaneously mobilized, but more often it will remain solidly fixed. In either case, there is usually a separation of the crura from the footplate (Fig. 1). We know that there must be continuity of ossicular transmission to improve hearing but that it is not necessary to free the entire stapes in one piece Fig. 1.—Fracture of crura and their separation from the footplate. to accomplish