Mucosal-Type Chronic Otitis Media: Clinical Predictors of Postoperative Success

Chronic otitis media (COM) remains a global disease, a burden, and a challenge. Predicting its treatment's postoperative success based on clinical presentation has not been reported, particularly for the mucosal (tubotympanic/safe) type.

A prospective descriptive study of patients with mucosal-type COM was done to identify clinical predictors of improved postoperative hearing outcomes and successful graft uptakes.

Among the 110 ears studied, tympanoplasty was performed in 76 and cortical mastoidectomy with tympanoplasty in 34, based on six weeks of discharge-free or persistent discharge, respectively; all were treated with postoperative intranasal steroid spray. Eustachian tube dysfunction was noted in 96.4%. All patients with a history of ear discharge over five years had ossicular discontinuity, and those with persistent discharge had nonpatent aditus. Normal postoperative hearing was attained in most patients with less than one year of ear discharge. Surgical intervention within a year achieved normal hearing and graft success of 100% with type I tympanoplasty using the fascia alone in discharge-free ears and cortical mastoidectomy with tympanoplasty using cartilage-fascia graft in discharging ears, despite Eustachian tube dysfunction. In the latter group, graft success in type II tympanoplasty was 76.9%.

Ear discharge is the prime predictor of postoperative success in mucosal-type COM, as its duration and persistence dictate the time and type of surgical intervention. Duration of more than five years is directly proportional to pre-operative hearing loss with ossicular involvement and inversely proportional to postoperative hearing improvement, necessitating early surgical intervention, despite it being the mucosal or "safe type." Ear discharge-free for six weeks is an indicator of tympanoplasty. Persistent ear discharge, despite nonotogenic confounders, suggests aditus nonpatency, indicates the need for cortical mastoidectomy, and necessitates achieving its patency along with tympanoplasty. A surgical decision-making algorithm for the best possible surgical outcome in the chronic mucosal type of OM is also suggested.