The "Chopstick Drilling Technique": A novel solution to drilling bone in endoscopic ear surgery.

This novel "Chopstick" drilling technique overcomes the difficulty of drilling with simultaneous suction and irrigation, despite one hand holding the endoscope. The popularity of endoscopic ear surgery is increasing, with reported outcomes comparable to conventional microscopic ear surgery.[[1]] Advantages of endoscopic surgery may include increased visualisation of the recesses of the middle ear such as the sinus tympani,[3] and if the procedure can be done entirely endoscopically, no skin incision is required.[4] However, endoscopic ear surgery has its limitations, one of which is that one hand is occupied holding the endoscope. Self-irrigating piezo-surgery systems exist as an alternative to drilling; however, these still require the surgeon to hold a separate suction (or at least stop to suction at intervals), are currently uncommon, expensive and remove bone at a far slower rate. [Extracted from the article]