Short-Term Complications Are Rare After Cholesteatoma Surgery

To evaluate the incidence and nature of short-term complications following cholesteatoma surgery in a heterogeneous cohort.

A retrospective cohort study including complete coverage of cholesteatoma surgery in a Swedish region between 1 January 2005 and 31 December 2015. A total of 966 patients were followed for 6 weeks postoperatively. Severe complications were defined as facial palsy, thromboembolic events, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage, serious postoperative infection, or death within 6 weeks of surgery.

Severe complications were uncommon, occurring in 14 patients (1.4%). Thromboembolic events were observed in five patients (0.5%), two of which (0.2%) resulted in postoperative mortality-one following cardiac arrest in the postoperative care unit and one due to a thromboembolic event approximately 3 weeks after surgery. Serious infections occurred in five patients (0.5%): three retroauricular abscesses, one case of meningitis, and one infected preauricular fistula with abscess formation. Additional severe complications included three cases of facial palsy and one case of CSF leakage.

Cholesteatoma surgery demonstrates a low rate of severe short-term complications, underscoring its overall safety with risks mainly attributable to general surgical or medical causes rather than cholesteatoma-specific factors. The present cholesteatoma-specific data constitute a solid basis for preoperative counselling and benchmarking within otology.