Type 1 tympanoplasty with and without mastoidectomy in children

Objective: Assessment of the surgical benefit in children of a canal wall up mastoidectomy with Tos Type 1 tympanoplasty over Tos Type 1 tympanoplasty alone in patients with chronic suppurative otitis media (CSupOM) with tympanic membrane (TM) perforation. Study Design: Retrospective study. Setting: Tertiary care hospital. Methods: A retrospective chart review of CSupOM patients younger than 18-years old and admitted for elective tympanoplasty between 2010 and 2013 was conducted. Primary cases of patients submitted to Type 1 tympanoplasty (according to Tos classification 1993) were selected and were divided into two groups: tympanoplasty with canal wall up mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty without mastoidectomy. Surgical success was defined as the presence of an intact TM with no disease recurrence after 2 years of follow-up. Results: From a total of 125 ears (88 pediatric patients), 59 were selected according to the inclusion criteria. The mean age of the patients was 12.5 years, with 5.1% being 7 years old or younger, 67.8% between the ages of 8 and 14 years old, and 27.1% from 15 to 18 years old. 67.8% of the patients were boys and 32.2% girls. The overall surgical success rate was 89.8%, with 88.9% in the tympanoplasty group and 90.2% in the tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy group. Audiometric improvement was observed in both groups with a mean gap closure of 14 dB ± 8.4 dB in the tympanoplasty without mastoidectomy group and 12.5 dB ± 9.5 dB in the tympanoplasty with mastoidectomy group. Conclusion: Type 1 tympanoplasty is an effective treatment of CSupOM in children. In these cases, performing mastoidectomy at the time of primary Type 1 tympanoplasty is not associated with improved outcomes.