Long-term surgical and functional outcomes of the intact canal wall technique for middle ear cholesteatoma in the paediatric population

In this paper, we report the postoperative outcomes in canal wall up procedures with second stage surgery in 40 children undergoing intervention for cholesteatoma of the middle ear. The residuals, recurrences and the hearing results were analysed. All 40 patients had a follow-up of at least five years. Of the 39 patients who underwent two staged surgery, 18 (46.1%) had a residual lesion that was identified and excised during the second surgery. Over a five year follow-up period, there were five (12.5%) patients with recurrences, all belonging to the group in whom a residual cholesteatoma was identified during the second staged surgery. The rate of residual cholesteatoma tends to decrease as age increases. The type of cholesteatoma, acquired or congenital middle ear, were not statistically related to the incidence of residual cholesteatoma. Hearing analysis showed that hearing recovery was excellent with canal wall up procedures and remained stable over five years.