Effect of canalplasty in tympanoplasty

Abstract

Background: Objective of the study was to analyse the role of canalplasty in tympanoplasty in terms of intra operative ease, complete visualisation of tympanic membrane, graft uptake rates and hearing improvement. Methods: 100 patients with chronic otitis media presenting to our institution from August 2016 to July 2017 were included in this study. Group I consisted of 50 patients who underwent tympanoplasty with canalplasty and Group II had 50 patients who underwent tympanoplasty without canalplasty. Both groups were followed up for 3 months, compared and analysed for hearing improvement and graft uptake. Results: Our results showed that Group I achieved 98% graft uptake rates compared to group II which achieved 92%. In Group II gain in air bone gap was 11.26 dB where as in Group I was about 13.48 dB. Group I had significant hearing improvement compared to Group II. Conclusions: It is advisable to combine canalplasty with tympanoplasty as it gives better visualisation of tympanic membrane facilitating the placement of graft and prevents lateralization of the graft.