Audiological and otological outcome in Bi-island chondroperichondrial graft type I tympanoplasty

The principal aims of a tympanoplasty operation are to create an intact tympanic membrane and to restore an optimal hearing improvement. Many surgeons have used cartilage for grafting due to its increased stability and resistance to negative pressure. Cartilage has been criticized because of concerns regarding hearing results. The aim of this study is to present the experience of using cartilage for grafting central perforations in type I tympanoplasty procedure with some novel modifications and evaluate its take rate and audiologic results. This is a prospective study including 40 patients (45 ears) who underwent type I cartilage tympanoplasty. All patients are primary cases of chronic suppurative otitis media of tubotympanic type. The following parameters were evaluated at least after 3 months from surgery: graft take and change between the pre- and post-operative pure-tone average air-bone gap (PTA-ABG). Thirty-nine patients included in the study underwent 45 cartilage tympanoplasty type I operations. The mean age of the patients was 24.9 ± 9.5 years (range, 15–51 years). The mean follow up period was 6.2 months (range, 3–9 months). All perforations were found to be closed with a 100% graft take rate. The overall mean pre-operative PTA-ABG was 26.0 ± 4.4 dB, whereas the postoperative PTA-ABG was 13.8 ± 5 dB (p < 0.0001) which is highly significant. The percent of reduction of PTA-ABG was about 46.6%. Bi-island chondroperichondrial type I tympanoplasty is an effective and reliable technique with a high success rate and minimal complications.