Tympanoplasty in Northern Ethiopia: success rates, failure factors, and audiometric improvements

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to determine the success rate of tympanoplasty, the factors associated with failure rate, and audiometric gains after the surgical procedure in Ethiopia. Results: There were 82 successful grafts take out of the 92 tympanoplasty procedures with an overall success rate of 89.1%. Females, who had tympanoplasty had 45 (91.8%) successful grafts while 37 (86.0%) successful grafts for male. Of the total tympanoplasties, 50(53.4%) of it were done in the left ear. Ear discharge was found to be a significant predictor of tympanoplasty failure rate [AOR = 9.6, 95% CI (1.1 − 88.8)]. There was a significant gain of air conduction with a p-value of < 0.001 after the tympanoplasty procedure which was about 13 dB mean difference. Conclusions: In this study, only post-operative ear infection was found to decrease the success rate of tympanoplasty significantly. It also revealed that tympanoplasty improves hearing ability. We recommend a strict application of infection prevention and control strategies, and adequate and comprehensive follow-up of patients including audiometric assessment.