Comparison between cartilage-perichondrium composite 'ring' graft and temporalis fascia in type one tympanoplasty in children.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the anatomical and audiological outcomes of primary type one tympanoplasty performed with a modified cartilage-perichondrium composite 'ring' graft, and to compare them with results for primary type one tympanoplasty performed with temporalis fascia, in children. STUDY
DESIGN: Retrospective clinical study.
SETTING: Otolaryngology department, Tanta University Hospital, Egypt. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Records were evaluated for 82 children with dry tympanic membrane perforation (any size) and intact ossicular chain, and with no history of previous ear surgery except for tympanostomy. Patients of similar age and middle-ear pathology were selected to make the two groups as homogeneous as possible. An underlay type one tympanoplasty, using either a ring graft or temporalis fascia, was performed: 40 children were included in the ring graft group and 42 in the temporalis fascia group. All procedures were performed by the same surgeon. A successful anatomical outcome was considered to comprise full, intact healing of the graft without perforation, retraction, lateralisation or blunting, for at least one year post-operatively. Patients' post-operative pure tone average air-bone gap and speech reception threshold were compared with pre-operative levels, within and between the two groups.
RESULTS: Type one tympanoplasty using a ring graft technique resulted in a significantly greater graft acceptance rate (95 per cent) compared with the temporalis fascia technique (76.2 per cent; p < 0.01). Pure tone average air-bone gap and speech reception threshold levels improved significantly in both the ring graft and fascia groups (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in audiometric results between the two groups (p > 0.05), although there was a trend towards better post-operative results in the ring group.
CONCLUSION: In our paediatric patients, type one tympanoplasty with a modified cartilage-perichondrium composite ring graft yielded good anatomical and functional results. The anatomical results obtained using this graft (with its unique appearance and stability during and after surgery) were superior to those for temporalis fascia. The ring graft group had equivalent, if not better, post-operative audiometric results, compared with the temporalis fascia group. Thus, the ring graft is believed to be effective in enabling both tympanic membrane closure and rapid hearing improvement, in the paediatric population.