The cholesteatomatous ear one year after surgery with obliteration technique

Fifty-seven patients with middle ear cholesteatoma were treated surgically by eradicating the cholesteatoma after a canal wall-down procedure had been performed. During the same session the canal wall was rebuilt with autologous bone, the tympanic membrane repaired with fascia, and the mastoid cavity and epitympanic space obliterated with autologous cortical mastoid bone chips and a retroauricular, anteriorly based muscle flap. One year later a second look procedure was performed in all the patients (N = 57), which permitted the anatomic effects of the obliteration operation to be mapped out before ossicular reconstruction was undertaken. At three, six, and twelve months after the first operation any secretion from the ear was recorded. Recurrent cholesteatoma was not found in any single case, residual cholesteatoma in only three cases (5.3%). The tympanic membrane was intact in fifty-four cases (94.7%) and perforated in three, none of which was combined with a residual cholesteatoma. Even though twenty-four of the fifty-seven cases had a secreting ear before the eradicating operation, fifty-six (98.2%) stayed dry during the year of observation between the two operations. Therefore, with very few exceptions, a dry, cholesteatoma-free ear and an intact tympanic membrane may be expected one year postoperatively in patients with middle ear cholesteatoma surgically treated using the described obliteration technique.