Postoperative Anatomical and Functional Success Rates of Pediatric Patients with Chronic Otitis Media: Our Experiences

The preoperative and postoperative pure-tone hearing thresholds and anatomical graft success of pediatric patients who underwent chronic otitis mediasurgery with various indications were evaluated and the factors affecting success were examined.Pediatric patients aged 6 to 18 years, who underwent ear surgery for various reasons between January 1, 2013 and January 1, 2020 were included in the study. All patients included in the sample were assessed in terms of age (< 13 and ≥ 13 years), disease type (cholesteatoma, tympanosclerosis, adhesive otitis media, chronic suppurative otitis media, isolated or traumatic tympanic membrane perforation), surgery performed (type 1 tympanoplasty, canal wall-up mastoidectomy, and exploratory tympanotomy), condition of the contralateral ear (unilateral/bilateral disease), graft material (temporal muscle fascia/tragal cartilage), preoperative and postoperative pure-tone audiometry thresholds and hearing gains, and postoperative sixth-month functional and anatomical graft success. Anatomical graft success and functional success were also evaluated according to the type of surgery performed, type of disease, type of fascia used in surgery, condition of the contralateral ear, and age. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups in terms of anatomical graft success and functional success according to the type of surgery performed (p = 0.414 and p = 0.123, respectively) and type of disease (p = 0.454 and p = 0.097, respectively). There was also no statistically significant difference between the anatomical and functional success of temporal muscle fascia and conchal cartilage grafts (p = 0.833 and p = 0.565, respectively). While no statistically significant difference was observed in graft success between the patients with and without contralateral ear disease, there was a statistically significant difference in functional success (p = 0.188 and p = 0.014, respectively). Although not statistically significant, it was observed that the anatomical graft success rates were decreased in patients with contralateral ear disease compared to those without bilateral disease (p = 0.188). There was no significant difference between age and anatomical graft success (p = 0.865) or functional success (p = 0.956). The type of disease in the diagnosed ear, presence of disease in the contralateral ear, and graft material used affect functional and anatomical graft success rates. Therefore, we believe that pediatric patients should be evaluated considering these factors in the preoperative period and the parents of these patients should be well informed about possible postoperative conditions