Introduction POSTTRAUMATIC conductive hearing loss, caused by interruption of the ossicular chain as a result of indirect trauma, has recently been the subject of several reports in the literature (Andersen et al,1 Escher,2 Hough3). In the past few years we had occasion to observe 15 cases of this kind in the Utrecht University Clinic. The increasing frequency of accidents (especially traffic accidents) may well have had something to do with this. In many cases the consulting otologist will have to describe a posttraumatic hearing loss as perceptive. Hearing defects of the mixed type or almost purely conductive hearing defects are not uncommon, however. A longitudinal petrosal bone fracture, although not always demonstrable, is the most probable cause of this type of hearing defect. So far as the auditory organ is concerned, the lesions associated with this fracture are confined to the middle ear, while the capsule of