title: Results of tympanoplasty in children after 15 to 27 years.
abstract: Results of tympanoplasty in children with noncholesteatomatous chronic otitis media are presented in a 16- to 27-year follow-up. During the 13-year period from 1968 to 1980, 116 children (124 ears) were operated on, and they were submitted to several follow-ups with audiometry and otomicroscopy. The attendance at the last follow-up was 70%, and the minimum time since surgery for these patients was 15 years. All dry ears were operated on transcanally with a fixed ear speculum, without any lateral incision of the ear canal skin. Cumulatively, in total, 14 ears (11%) had reperforation: 7 ears early and 7 ears late. At 6 months, there were 6% early reperforations; some were surgically closed and some reappeared later, even after several years, as late perforations. At 2 to 15 years of follow-up, there were 4% reperforations, and at 16 to 27 years, 6%. Hearing was good and stable. The results were the same in ears operated on at the ages of 2.5 to 7 years and 8 to 14 years, as well as with preoperatively positive and negative Valsalva maneuvers. In total, 14% of ears were revised during the entire observation period. It is concluded that transcanal tympanoplasty, even in young children, has good long-term stability and can definitively and permanently solve the problem of noncholesteatomatous chronic otitis in children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Gentofte University Hospital, Hellerup, Denmark.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tos
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Orntoft
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Stangerup
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006320:Hearing Tests; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000601:surgery*; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018058:Tympanic Membrane Perforation / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D014433:Tympanoplasty / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards