Cartilage Interposition Ossiculoplasty in Mucosal Type of Chronic Otitis Media: A Prospective Analysis in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background: Chronic otitis media (COM) is a chronic infection of the middle ear cavity caused by an ongoing inflammatory response within the middle associated with unresolved and resistant bacterial infections. Aim: Assessing the middle ear status in mucosal type of COM with only conductive hearing loss with no complications and their outcomes following tragal cartilage ossiculoplasty with tympanoplasty. Materials and Method: A prospective study was conducted on 60 patients of mucosal type of COM with only conductive hearing loss, who underwent tragal cartilage ossiculoplasty with tympanoplasty. The outcomes are assessed by the gain in hearing loss postoperatively 3 months and 6 months, pure tone audiometry. Results: Age of the patients ranged from 18 to 65 years, with a mean of 34.17 (standard deviation [SD] +13.436) years and median age being 31.5 years. Twenty seven (45%) were females and 33 (55%) were males. The mean hearing loss preoperatively was 47.24 dB (SD = 8.351). This reduced to 24.54 dB (SD = 6.018) at 3 months and further to 22.47 dB (SD = 5.173) at 6 months postoperatively. The preoperative hearing loss was significantly higher among females as compared to males (43.68 vs. 51.93 dB, P < 0.001). Hearing loss at 3 and 6 months postoperation showed no significant difference with sex. At 3 month follow up, there was gain in hearing in all age groups. Conclusion: Autologous tragal cartilage ossiculoplasty proved to be an effective procedure for reconstructing incus which was the most commonly affected ossicle in our study.