Endoscopic Transcanal Type 1 Tympanoplasty with Cartilage Perichondrium Graft; A Prospective Study.

Introduction: Recently use of endoscopes for ear surgeries is being popular among the surgeons as it gives a wide view of the middle ear. Also, tympanoplasty by transcanal approach can be done as a day care procedure and so it reduces the cost of hospitalization. The study was aimed to evaluate the results of type 1 tympanoplasty done by endoscopic transcanal approach with cartilage perichondrium graft, in relation to successful graft take-up rate and improvement in hearing.

Materials and methods: Total 50 patients were included in the study and all of them underwent type 1 tympanoplasty by endoscopic transcanal approach. Tragal cartilage with its attached perichondrium on one side facing laterally was placed as graft lateral to handle of malleus with v shaped notch at 12 o clock by underlay technique in all the cases. Patients were called for regular follow-up, and they were observed for successful graft take-up and improvement in hearing at 3 months after procedure.

Results: Out of 50 cases complete closure was achieved in 46 cases which makes a success rate of 92%. The average improvement in hearing of 15.3 dB was noted.

Conclusion: Endoscopic Transcanal approach with cartilage-perichondrium graft for tympanoplasty (type 1) is effective in terms of successful graft take-up rate and improvement in hearing, very cost effective, faster in terms of surgical time, and has less postoperative morbidity so gives better quality of life to the patient.