Transcanal Endoscopic Tympanoplasty for Pediatric Patients Under 15 Years of Age With Chronic Otitis Media

OBJECTIVES. To evaluate the results of transcanal endoscopic tympanoplasty for pediatric patients with chronic otitis media (COM) and compare them to that of the previously standard microscopic assisted tympanoplasty technique. METHODS. The patients were divided into two groups based on the operative method. Group 1 underwent tympanoplasty with a totally endoscopic assisted technique (n=21, 24 ears), and group 2 underwent tympanoplasty with the conventional microscopic technique (n=14, 15 ears). We used a transcanal approach in group 1 and a postauricular approach in group 2. In group 1, there were 15 cases of simple COM and nine cases of adhesive otitis media. In group 2, only 15 cases of simple COM were present. We analyzed the outcomes in terms of the hearing gain according to the surgical method and COM type, operation time, hospital stay after surgery, and graft success rate. RESULTS. Postoperative hearing gain results including air conduction (AC) thresholds and air-bone gap (ABG) were not significantly different between the two groups (P>0.05). In both the groups, significant improvement in the postoperative AC and ABG was observed compared to the preoperative hearing. The hospital stay after surgery was significantly shorter in group 1 than the group 2: 2.1±0.4 days and 4.8±0.9 days (P<0.001), respectively. The intact graft success rate was 91.6% in group 1 and 93% in group 2; the values were not significantly different (P>0.05). There was neither intra- nor postoperative complications. CONCLUSION. Transcanal endoscopic ear surgery technique is more conservative than microscopic approach and can be performed in pediatric patients under 15 years of age with COM. Moreover, it offers similar surgical results compared to traditional microscopic technique, and a shorter operative time and hospital stay after surgery are the advantages of this technique.