Comparative Study between Chonchal Cartilage Tympanoplasty and Temporalis Facia Tympanoplasty by Underlay Technique

Tympanoplasty is a standard surgical intervention for chronic otitis media (COM) with tympanic membrane perforation. Among various grafting materials, temporalis fascia and conchal cartilage are widely used. This research compares the anatomical and functional outcomes of underlay tympanoplasty using these two grafts.

To evaluate and compare the graft uptake rate and hearing outcomes of conchal cartilage versus temporalis fascia grafts in type I tympanoplasty using the underlay technique.

A prospective comparative research was conducted on 60 subjects diagnosed with COM. Subjects were randomly allocated into two groups: batch TC (n = 30) underwent tympanoplasty using conchal cartilage, and batch TT (n = 30) underwent tympanoplasty using temporalis fascia. Graft uptake and hearing improvement were assessed postoperatively using pure tone audiometry at three months.

Graft uptake was higher in the cartilage group (93.3%) than in the fascia group (83.3%), with statistical significance (P = 0.041). Hearing improvement and air-bone gap closure were comparable in both groups, with no significant difference (P > 0.05).

Conchal cartilage provides superior anatomical outcomes with comparable hearing results to temporalis fascia, making it a reliable graft choice in underlay tympanoplasty.