Operative Time and Tympanic Membrane Integrity in Endoscopic Transcanal versus Microscopic Post-Auricular Tympanoplasty for Chronic Otitis Media

Abstract

Objective: To compare surgical outcomes (operative time and tympanic membrane integrity) obtained by endoscopic transcanal tympanoplasty (ET) and microscopic post-auricular tympanoplasty (MT) in patient with inactive chronic otitis media. Methods:             Design:            Retrospective Cohort             Setting:           Multicenter study in 3 Private Tertiary Hospitals               Participants: 18 patients who underwent microscopic or endoscopic tympanoplasty for chronic otitis media. Results: Each group had 9 patients, with median age of 43 (31-65 years) for the MT and 47 (29-59 years) for the ET group. There was no significant difference in median age of the two groups (Mann-Whitney U=17, P=.22).  Male: female ratio was (5:4) and (6:3) for the ET and MT group respectively, with no significant difference in gender distribution (c2= 0.90, P=.34). Mean operative time for the ET and MT group was 86.7 minutes and 140.6 minutes, respectively, with significantly lower mean operative time for the ET group (t= 3.57, P=.0025). There was complete tympanic membrane graft uptake in both groups.   Conclusion: Regardless of technique, tympanoplasty is an effective surgical treatment among patients with inactive chronic otitis media. Endoscopic tympanoplasty is an alternative to conventional microscopic tympanoplasty that may use less operative time, producing similarly complete graft uptake.   Keywords: chronic otitis media, tympanoplasty, endoscopic tympanoplasty, microscopic tympanoplasty, perforation, tympanic membrane