Virtuosity with the Mallet and Gouge: the brilliant triumph of the "modern" mastoid operation.

The development of mastoid surgery can be traced through the past 4 centuries. Once used as a means of evacuating a postauricular abscess, it has evolved to become a method for gaining entry into the middle ear for diagnostic purposes, to control chronic ear disease, or for otologic and neuro-otologic procedures. Earlier works led the way to the Wilde postauricular incision, which gave rise to Schwartze mastoidectomy. Stacke's technique of mastoidectomy was practiced for some time before Bondy, Heath, and Bryant introduced the modified radical mastoidectomy. By the 1930s, the mastoidectomy had evolved into a generally accepted otologic procedure. Endowed with a rich history, the future of mastoid surgery promises to be equally momentous.