The discussion on the application of simultaneous balloon Eustachian tuboplasty in the hearing reconstruction in patients with chronic suppurative otitis media

Abstract

Objective:To explore the application of simultaneous balloon Eustachian tuboplasty（BET） in hearing reconstruction in patients with chronic suppurative otitis media. Method:Twenty-three patients（23ears） who diagnosesd as chronic suppurative otitis media and Eustachian tube dysfunction and underwent hearing reconstruction surgery were retrospectively enrolled, including 12 patients（12 ears） received BET + hearing reconstruction surgery as the case group, 11 patients（11 ears） received hearing reconstruction surgery as the control group. All patients underwent Eustachian tube function score（ETS） and pure tone audiometry before the surgery and one year after the surgery. The subjective improvement degree of symptoms such as ear fullness, muffled hearing, tinnitus and hearing loss were investigated. The differences in test results between the two groups were analyzed. Result:There was no statistically significant difference in ETS and pure tone audiometry between the two groups before the surgery（P>0.05）. The preoperative ETS and postoperative ETS of the case group were 3.75±2.42 and 6.58±2.19, compared to 3.18±1.99 and 4.27±1.79 of the control group. ETS of two groups were improved after surgery（P<0.01）, and the improvement degree of the case group was better than that of the control group（P<0.05）. The preoperative air conduction hearing threshold, bone conduction hearing threshold and air bone gap of the case group were（65.17±11.56） dB, （24.25±12.96） dB, （40.92±12.17） dB, and decreased to（30.58±6.40） dB, （23.67±9.74） dB, and（6.92±12.00） dB after surgery. The preoperative air conduction hearing threshold, bone conduction hearing threshold and air bone gap of the control group were（63.55±9.74） dB, （22.64±8.61） dB, （40.91±9.83） dB, and decreased to （41.45±15.50） dB, （25.73±8.52） dB, （15.73±11.20） dB after surgery. The air conduction hearing threshold and air bone gap of the two groups were improved after surgery（P<0.01）, and the postoperative air conduction threshold of the case group was significantly lower than that of the control group（P<0.05）. In the follow-up questionnaire results, the subjective improvement degree of ear fullness, muffled hearing and hearing loss in the case group was higher than that of the control group（P<0.05）. Conclusion:In patients with chronic suppurative otitis media and Eustachian tube dysfunction, simultaneous BET and hearing reconstruction surgery can effectively increase the patients' hearing improvement degree, and can improve the Eustachian tube function and subjective symptoms.