Personal experience with tympanoplasty in children

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Pediatric Surgery
• Medical Research

Background:

• Chronic otitis media (COM) is a persistent middle ear infection.
• Cholesteatoma, a common complication, poses challenges in pediatric cases.
• Surgical outcomes in children require careful consideration of disease dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze surgical outcomes for chronic otitis media in 434 children.
• To evaluate the impact of lesion extent and operation type on results.
• To assess early and late functional and morphological outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 434 pediatric COM surgeries.
• Categorization of operations: radical (18%), conservative (21%), tympanoplasty (61%).
• Assessment of functional and morphological results, including recurrence rates.

Main Results:

• Tympanoplasty (open or closed) was the most frequent procedure (61%).
• Radical operations were performed in 18%, conservative in 21%.
• Closed tympanoplasty showed difficulty in preventing cholesteatoma recurrence in children.

Conclusions:

• The dynamic nature of childhood cholesteatoma complicates achieving a 'safe ear'.
• Closed tympanoplasty may be less effective in preventing recurrence in pediatric COM.
• Further research into optimal surgical strategies for pediatric COM with cholesteatoma is warranted.