Comparison between Postauricular Microscopic Tympanoplasty and Transcanal Endoscopic Tympanoplasty for Chronic Suppurative Otitis Media: A Prospective Study

Background: Tympanoplasty is one of the most frequently performed otologic surgeries.Routinely, it is carried out using a microscope, but it comes with its technical challenges.With the advancement of technology, endoscopes are becoming increasingly popular as a surgical tool, which can give a better visualization of complex middle ear structures.Objectives: To compare the hearing improvement, graft uptake, postoperative complications, graft failure, and operative time taken for microscopic and endoscopic type I tympanoplasty in chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM).Materials and methods: A prospective study was conducted at the Department of ENT, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, involving 96 patients diagnosed with inactive tubotympanic CSOM.These patients were divided into two equal groups, with one group undergoing microscopic type I tympanoplasty and the second group receiving endoscopic type I tympanoplasty.The findings of both groups were statistically analyzed.Results: The rate of graft uptake was equal in microscopic and endoscopic tympanoplasty (87.5% in each group).The mean hearing gain was 6.90 dB and 6.82 dB in the microscopic and endoscopic tympanoplasty groups, respectively (p > 0.05).The mean operative time for microscopic type I tympanoplasty was 130.56 minutes, which was significantly longer compared to endoscopic type I tympanoplasty, which had a mean operative time of 104.89 minutes (p < 0.05).Conclusion: Endoscopic transcanal tympanoplasty is an acceptable substitute for postauricular microscopic tympanoplasty as it provides similar results of graft uptake, hearing gain, and has a shorter operating time.