[Tragus cartilage tympanoplasty for treatment of adhesive otitis media].
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the efficacy of cartilage tympanoplasty in the treatment of adhesive otitis media.


METHODS
From June to October, 2008, 18 patients with adhesive otitis media (18 ears) were treated with tragus cartilage tympanoplasty. The air-bone gap changes and the self-perceived symptomatic improvement were evaluated at 1 month and 1 year after the operation.


RESULTS
All the patients showed dry ear within 6 weeks after the operation. Tympanic membrane healing was achieved in 17 cases, and 1 case presented with a inferior-anterior fissure in the tympanic membrane. With the average preoperative air-bone gap (at 0.25, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 kHz) of 44.65 dB, the patients showed an obvious decrease of the air-bone gap by over 10 dB at 1 month after the operation and by over 25 dB at one year. Symptomatic improvements were achieved in these cases, including alleviated ear discomforts (3/15 cases), total tinnitus relief (1/11 cases), and alleviated tinnitus (10/11 cases). High-frequency tinnitus was noted in 1 case (1/7 cases), and the tympanic membrane appeared normal in 17 cases.


CONCLUSIONS
Tympanic membrane reconstruction using the tragus cartilage can be feasible for treatment of secretory otitis media, but the surgical indications should be carefully controlled.
Shen
Yu-mei
YM
Department of Pathology, Southern Medical University, and Department of Otolaryngology and Head-neck Surgery, Zhujiang Hospital, Guangzhou 510515, China. shenyumei2007@hotmail.com
Sun
Wen-qing
WQ
Shen
Hong
H
Li
Yong-he
YH
D000328:Adult; D004425:Ear Cartilage / Q000637:transplantation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D000267:Tissue Adhesions; D014433:Tympanoplasty / Q000379:methods*