Methodology:
Reporting Guideline : This study followed the Strobe guidelines for reporting the study findings.
Study design : A retrospective study was undertaken concerning patients who underwent either post-aural or per-meatal tympanoplasty surgery. Patients were contacted via telephonic consultation to gather insights into their experiences with the respective approaches.
Setting and Participant Cohort : This study was performed in a secondary care hospital, catering to a population exceeding 900,000 individuals3. Study approval was obtained from the hospital’s clinical audit department. The study encompassed 54 consecutive patients who provided consent and demonstrated the ability to be able to participate. Exclusions were attributed due to the factors such as non-consent, communication challenges, language barriers, and health-related impediments. Encompassed within this group were individuals who underwent tympanoplasty via either the post-aural or per-meatal method. Procedures spanned simple myringoplasty, ossiculoplasty (performed in cases where the ossicular chain was not in continuity), and limited atticotomy (4 cases of atticotomy out of total of 54 cases). Mastoid surgeries were excluded. Predominantly, the permeatal subgroup underwent microscopic procedures, with a sole instance of endoscopic tympanoplasty. General anaesthesia was administered, with a solitary exception of local anaesthesia. Primary and revision cases were included. The study spanned a 3 year window, commencing from November 2019 to April 2022, encapsulating patients who had undergone surgery within the prior 1 to 3 years. This temporal scope facilitated a comprehensive long-term assessment of the postoperative outcomes. Out of the 90 patients contacted for telephonic survey participation, 54 responded and were included in the analysis.
Data collected : Utilising the validated patient reported outcome measure, denoted as The Chronic Otitis Media Benefit Inventory (COMBI)4,5 (Figure 1), data was collected from both cohorts. Additional inquiries encompassed work absence and return to work details. Post-aural patients underwent supplementary questioning concerning the post aural scar, which has been used in research articles before6,7 (See figure 3 below).
The data collected included demographic specifics (age, gender). In the post-aural subset, scar related queries are shown in figure 3. Per-meatal patients were queried on post-aural scar inclination (See figure 3 below).
The validated COMBI patient reported scoring system (See Figure 1 below) facilitated a comparison between the two cohorts.