Efficacy of ossicular chain reconstruction using titanium implants in single-stage tympanoplasty

Abstract

To explore the efficacy of total and partial ossicular chain reconstruction using titanium implants. Total of 106 patients (107 ears) underwent ossiculoplasty using titanium from June 2008 to January 2011. Eighty-six ears had partial ossicular replacement prosthesis (PORP) and 21 ears had total ossicular replacement prosthesis (TORP). Patient data were collected retrospectively from the database of surgical cases. Patients were assessed during 6 to 30 months postoperatively to establish middle- and long-term hearing results. Average postoperative air-conduction gain and air-bone gap (ABG) were measured at four frequencies: 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 kHz. Postoperative air-bone gap of 20 dB or less than 20 dB was obtained in 83.7% of PORP cases versus 71.4% of TORP cases. All the cases obtained significant postoperative air-conduction gains. The change in air-bone gap (defined as the difference between the means of preoperative and postoperative ABG) was 12.5 dB for PORP patients and 12.9 dB for the TORP patients. There was no statistically significant difference between the TORP and PORP groups. Prosthesis exclusion was observed in one case (0.9%). Prostheses using titanium type could give good functional results and stability with low exclusion rate to patients presenting chronic otitis media.