Tympanoplasty

Tympanoplasty is surgery to treat ruptured eardrums. Tympanoplasty surgery is accessing your eardrum and patching the hole.

Tympanoplasty repairs your damaged eardrum, reducing the chance of having long-term problems with chronic infections.

Most commonly used approach

● Postauricular tympanoplasty - making a curved incision behind ear, in the crease in your outer ear. Other approaches
● Transcanal - reaching your middle ear through your ear canal
● Endaural - They make an incision above your ear canal

Surgery – we obtain a small piece of tissue called graft or patch. From fascia of the muscle located on each side of your head near your temples. Or we may also use cartilage from your tragus (the bump in front of your ear. Then we reach the eardrum, lift it to place graft material underneath the ruptured eardrum. And then place foam over the eardrum to hold the graft in place while eardrum heals. Over time, eardrum grows new tissue, using the graft material as the foundation.

Mastoidectomy

A mastoidectomy is a surgery that removes diseased cells from the air-filled spaces in your mastoid bone, part of your skull that is just behind your ear. Mastoidectomy is often used to treat cholesteatoma (a noncancerous growth that forms behind your eardrum) or ear infections that have spread into skull. It’s also used when placing cochlear implants.

If there is a ruptured eardrum, mastoidectomy is performed with tympanoplasty.

The outlook varies based on the reason for the surgery and the type of mastoidectomy performed. The primary goal of mastoidectomy isn’t to restore hearing, but rather, to eliminate infection that can lead to further problems.

Advantages

A mastoidectomy can treat chronic ear infections and minimize their recurrence (return). In addition, the procedure can prevent serious complications of cholesteatoma, such as:

● Hearing loss.
● Vertigo.
● Dizziness.
● Facial nerve damage.
● Labyrinthitis.
● Meningitis.
● Brain abscess

Procedure

The extensiveness of surgery depends on the unique situation of the disease.

Under anesthesia, an incision is created behind the ear to access mastoid bone. (this incision is carefully placed to minimize the appearance of your mastoidectomy scar.)

We use specialized instruments to open the mastoid bone. Remove the infected air cells in your mastoid. Close the surgical site with stitches. Dress the surgical wound with gauze.

Patient can return to work, school and other routine activities in approximately one to two weeks. Full mastoidectomy recovery takes about six to 12 weeks.