Revision surgery for chronic otitis media: a learning experience. Report on 389 cases with a long-term follow-up

The objective of this study was to evaluate, during a long-term follow-up period, the results of revision surgery for chronic otitis media with or without cholesteatoma. Intact canal wall and canal wall down procedures were performed. The surgical history of every patient was assessed before the operation. A dry, relatively safe, and disease-free ear was created in 90% of the reoperated ears (N = 389). The recurrence rate of cholesteatoma was 5% for the total group. Reperforations of the tympanic membrane occurred in 10%, and persistent or recurrent otorrhea was present in 10% of cases. The functional hearing results were quite satisfactory. A residual air-bone gap of < or =30 dB was reached in 70.3% of the cases after revision tympanoplasty only (N = 41). Revision mastoidectomy with revision tympanoplasty as a one-stage procedure led subsequently, in 76% of intact canal wall procedures (N = 113) and 55% of canal wall down procedures (N = 98), to a residual air-bone gap of < or =30 dB.