What is middle ear surgery?
Middle ear surgery is the set of surgical interventions to treat problems in the tympanic membrane, in the chain of articulated ossicles (hammer, anvil and stirrup) and in the mastoid cells (cavities of the temporal bone). There are two major blocks of surgical procedures: tympanoplasty and mastoidectomy. Tympanoplasty encompasses ossiculoplasty (bone repair) and myringoplasty (closure of holes in the eardrum).
Why is it performed?
These procedures are recommended to treat problems of the middle ear: of the tympanic membrane or of the ossicles and mastoid cells. Thus, tympanoplasty is recommended in cases of large eardrum perforations or middle ear infections, such as acute or chronic otitis media, which cannot be cured with antibiotics. A masteidoctomy is an operation to remove the flat air cavities of the skull behind the ear (temporal bone), performed to treat infections of the mastoid portion in that part of the skull, complications of otitis media, abnormal bone growths, cholesteatoma (skin cell cyst in the middle ear) or to place cochlear implants.)
What does it consist of?
To perform this type of surgery, the middle ear is accessed through a cut behind the ear or inside the external auditory canal and the appropriate procedures are performed, depending on the patient’s injury. The intervention may include removing any infection or dead tissue in the eardrum, placing a graft to restore the perforation of the tympanic membrane or placing a prosthesis to replace any damaged bone.
Preparation for middle ear surgery
Before the operation, the ENT specialist will make sure that the patient does not have an ear infection. Thus, several tests should be performed, including an ear examination and hearing test. In some cases a CT scan of the head may also be necessary. Moreover, it is important that the patient consults the physician about the medications that he/she may or may not take. Thus, it is possible that a week before the operation, the patient may have to stop taking certain medications, such as aspirin or anti-inflammatory drugs, or anticoagulants.
Care after surgery
To ensure proper recovery after middle ear surgery, the patient should avoid:
- Sneezing too hard, or holding it in.
- Hitting the water spigot, so the patient should ask the specialist how to wash his hair and take a shower.
- Flying in an airplane
- Swimming in the pool or diving
- Lifting weights and excessive strain
To evaluate if the operation has been successful, it will be necessary to wait a few weeks after the intervention. The total recovery will be approximately four weeks, if the post-operative care has been done according to the specialist’s recommendations.