Comparison of Endoscope assisted and Microscope assisted Type 1 Tympanoplasty

Abstract

COM is a long-lasting infection of a part or whole of the middle ear cavity. Otorrhea, a permanent TM perforation and hearing loss characterize COM. It is a highly prevalent disease of the middle ear that may progress to serious complications in case of incorrect and inadequate treatment. Tympanoplasty is a surgical procedure aiming at eradicating infection, repairing the perforated TM, and rehabilitation of hearing in patients suffering from COM. It is one of the most common otologic surgeries performed on the middle ear. Traditionally, ear surgeons operate on the middle ear using microscope-assisted techniques since the 1950s. Nevertheless, a microscope provides a straight-line vision that restricts visualization of the deep recesses in the middle ear. For this reason, ear surgeons have increasingly performed middle ear surgeries using otoendoscopy since the late 1990s. Endoscopes can provide a wide field of view with magnified images. This study aims to analyze and compare the available data about the outcomes of endoscopic and microscopic type I tympanoplasty through a meta-analysis. Inclusion criteria for our meta-analysis were as follows: journal articles published in English; articles concerned with patients who were diagnosed with COM, treated with type I tympanoplasty using the endoscope or the microscope, and subjected to preoperative and postoperative pure tone audiometry.