DESCRIPTION OF SURGERY:

Your doctor has determined that you have an abnormality in you ears which requires surgery. An exploratory tympanotomy is an operation of the middle ear inside the head. The operation involves a surgical cut in the ear canal and possibly also behind the ear. The doctor may also have to build a new sound conducting ossicular chain inside the middle ear.

INDICATIONS:

1. Conductive hearing loss due to unexplained causes
2. Cholesteatoma
3. Eustachian tube dysfunction
4. Middle ear mass
5. Perilymphatic fistula

BENEFITS:

1. Improvement in the hearing
2. Establishing or confirming a diagnosis

RISKS:

As with any operation bleeding and infection are possible complications from this ear operation. These complications could result in prolonged illness, poor healing wounds, scarring, and the need for further operations. Very rarely, nerve damage occurs from tympanoplasty operations. This could result in weakness, pain, and numbness over half the face and the inability to move the muscles of half the face. Nerve damage can also cause rare complications, which can follow this surgery. Appearance of the ear may change after the surgery. Dizziness, ringing of the ear and other peculiar sensations in the ear are other uncommon complications of this surgery.

Some of the complications of exploratory tympanotomy operations can require further surgery; some of the complications can result in prolonged illness and deafness. In addition to those listed, there may be some unforeseen complications with any operative procedure.

ALTERNATIVES:

There may be alternatives to this surgery available to you, such as the use of medications and delaying surgery. However, these alternative methods carry their own risk of complications and a varying degree of success. Therefore, in those patients in whom exploratory tympanotomy is indicated, the operation provides the patient with the best chance of successful treatment and the lowest risk of complications.