Tsukasa Ito1, Toshinori Kubota2, Tomoo Watanabe2, Kazunori Futai2, Takatoshi Furukawa2, Seiji Kakehata2. 1. Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata-shi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan. Electronic address: tuito@med.id.yamagata-u.ac.jp. 2. Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine, 2-2-2 Iida-Nishi, Yamagata-shi, Yamagata 990-9585, Japan.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To retrospectively determine the size of the external auditory canal (EAC) in a pediatric population and to describe our experience with transcanal endoscopic ear surgery (TEES) in this pediatric population which had been successfully treated for middle ear disease using TEES. METHODS: We analyzed 31 patients ranging in age from 2 to 13 years old (median: 7.6 years) with middle ear disease who underwent TEES between November 2011 and August 2014. Sixteen of these patients had surgery for cholesteatomas; 11 for chronic otitis media; and 4 for malformation of the middle ear. A preoperative CT scan was performed to evaluate the middle ear disease. Transcanal endoscopic tympanoplasty was performed using a rigid endoscope with a 2.7mm outer diameter. Transcanal endoscopic atticoantrotomy was also performed, as necessary, on some patients to access pathologies in the antrum. The values of anterior-posterior diameters and superior-inferior diameters of the bony parts of EAC were measured retrospectively based on the preoperative CT scan data. RESULTS: TEES was successfully performed in all 31 pediatric patients without resorting to a retroauricular incision. Twenty-seven patients were evaluated for postoperative hearing levels which were found to fall within an acceptable range and for postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) by pure tone audiometry with a resulting mean of 8.6dB. The smallest anterior-posterior diameters of the external ear canal ranged from 3.2 to 7.1mm (5.0±1.0mm) and the smallest superior-inferior diameters ranged from 3.4 to 10.3mm (5.9±1.3mm). CONCLUSION: TEES can be used to safely and effectively treat middle ear disease even in the pediatric population in its narrow EAC.
OBJECTIVES: To retrospectively determine the size of the external auditory canal (EAC) in a pediatric population and to describe our experience with transcanal endoscopic ear surgery (TEES) in this pediatric population which had been successfully treated for middle ear disease using TEES. METHODS: We analyzed 31 patients ranging in age from 2 to 13 years old (median: 7.6 years) with middle ear disease who underwent TEES between November 2011 and August 2014. Sixteen of these patients had surgery for cholesteatomas; 11 for chronic otitis media; and 4 for malformation of the middle ear. A preoperative CT scan was performed to evaluate the middle ear disease. Transcanal endoscopic tympanoplasty was performed using a rigid endoscope with a 2.7mm outer diameter. Transcanal endoscopic atticoantrotomy was also performed, as necessary, on some patients to access pathologies in the antrum. The values of anterior-posterior diameters and superior-inferior diameters of the bony parts of EAC were measured retrospectively based on the preoperative CT scan data. RESULTS: TEES was successfully performed in all 31 pediatric patients without resorting to a retroauricular incision. Twenty-seven patients were evaluated for postoperative hearing levels which were found to fall within an acceptable range and for postoperative air-bone gap (ABG) by pure tone audiometry with a resulting mean of 8.6dB. The smallest anterior-posterior diameters of the external ear canal ranged from 3.2 to 7.1mm (5.0±1.0mm) and the smallest superior-inferior diameters ranged from 3.4 to 10.3mm (5.9±1.3mm). CONCLUSION: TEES can be used to safely and effectively treat middle ear disease even in the pediatric population in its narrow EAC.