ABSTRACT Background: Chronic otitis media (COM) is a prevalent condition in India, particularly among populations with lower socioeconomic status, leading to significant health burdens. Aims and Objective: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of tympanoplasty with and without cortical mastoidectomy in patients with COM mucosal type. Materials and Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 60 patients aged 10-60 years, who were treated at Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad, from November 2022 to September 2023. Patients were divided into two groups: Group A (30 patients) underwent tympanoplasty alone, while Group B (30 patients) underwent tympanoplasty combined with cortical mastoidectomy. Results: The results showed that while both surgical methods were effective in achieving graft uptake and improving hearing, the addition of cortical mastoidectomy did not result in a statistically significant improvement over tympanoplasty alone. The average audiometric gain was similar between the two groups, with Group B showing a marginally higher improvement (12.88 dB) compared to Group A (12.40 dB). Factors such as age, size, and location of perforation influenced the success rate of the graft uptake, but no significant difference was observed between the two surgical approaches. Conclusion: Tympanoplasty alone provides satisfactory outcomes for patients with COM mucosal type, and the routine addition of cortical mastoidectomy may not offer substantial benefits unless there is a clear indication of mastoid disease. Further studies with larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods are recommended to validate these findings.
Tandon et al. (Tue,) studied this question.