Transtympanic myringoplasty in children.

Our experience with myringoplasty by the transtympanic "push through' technique in paediatric patients is described. We have used this method in 40 children utilizing autologous temporalis fascia as the graft material. The procedures were all performed as day cases under general anaesthesia. The overall success rate for perforation closure was 77.5% at 6 months which is comparable to conventional methods. We conclude that the "push-through' technique is a safe, simple, reliable and cost-effective procedure that can be performed as a day case in paediatric patients. It avoids the necessity for pressure bandaging or formal ear packing. To our knowledge this is the first paper evaluating this technique in children.