RESULTS OF IMPROVED TECHNIC IN OTOLOGIC SURGERY.

Abstract

Of late the technic of otologic surgery has steadily improved. Some of the advances in this line have already been generally accepted, while others are only regarded tentatively, or are not fully recognized. I consider only those improvements that are not accepted by all otologists and that have not yet been incorporated into their routine work. These improvements are largely connected with the physiologic treatment of wounds which materially shortens the convalescence and notably improves the results. 1. The advantages of a thorough mastoid operation are great. In this operation not only all the diseased tissue in sight is removed, but also the whole mastoid process ablated, and the zygomatic, occipital and jugular cells, if present, are opened, to expose all the cellular diverticula of the middle-ear system. The advantages are that there is no possibility that the convalescence will be much delayed by any remnant of the infected material