Comparative study of use of dry and wet temporalis fascia Graft in type-1 Tympanoplasty

Background: Tympanoplasty is a procedure to eradicate disease in the middle ear and to reconstruct the hearing mechanism. Objectives: To assess the graft placement time, surgical and audiological improvement and to estimate the fibroblast count in dry and wet temporalis fascia. Materials & Methods: Out of 50 patients, two groups comprising of 25 patients each underwent type 1 tympanoplasty using dry and wet graft respectively. A comparative analysis was done on the graft placement time, fibroblast count and hearing improvement postoperatively between the two groups. Results: Complete graft uptake was seen in 96% patients in Wet graft group and 100% patients in Dry graft group. Majority of wet grafting was done within 10-12 minutes compared to dry grafting which was done within 3-6 minutes. Even though Fibroblast count was increased in wet graft tissue (88%) when compared with dry graft tissue (52%), surgical outcomes were similar for dry and wet grafting. We observed that there was statistically insignificant difference between the success rates of graft up take and hearing improvement on both groups. Conclusion: There is equal success rates, in terms of graft up take and hearing improvement, whether it is dry or wet temporalis fascia grafting, but Graft placement time will be less in dry grafting as compared to wet grafting.