Modified Radical Mastoidectomy with Type III Tympanoplasty: Revisited

Chronic suppurative otitis media with cholesteatoma is a fairly common condition presenting in any ENT clinic and its surgery remains one of the most challenging surgeries in otology. The primary goal of cholesteatoma surgery is to clear the disease and produce a safe and stable ear but there is still debate on whether these goals are best achieved by canal wall down or canal wall up procedures. A retrospective study was done to access benefits of modified radical mastoidectomy (MRM) with type III tympanoplasty in terms of eradication of disease and hearing improvement. It consisted of 140 patients of chronic otitis media (attico-antral) who underwent MRM with type III tympanoplasty in 156 ears in a tertiary care centre. Temporalis fascia graft was used for tympanoplasty. Results were analyzed in terms of condition of cavity, condition of graft and gain in hearing. The study showed significant improvement in gain in air conduction (21.24 dB) and closure of AB gap (15.62 dB). In the Indian population with low socio-economic status and poor follow up, single stage canal wall down procedure (MRM) provides maximum benefit to patients in terms of eradication of disease and hearing improvement.