Background and Objective : Open cavity and closed cavity tympanomastoidectomy each has both advantages and disadvantages. In order to optimize advantages while reducing or eliminating disadvantages, intact bridge mastoidectomy was developed. The
intact
bridge mastoidectomy operation can similarly be thought of as a modified radical mastoidectomy. Materials and Methods : Intact bridge mastoidectomy was performed in 48 ears from 1987 to 1998. To evaluate the results of intact bridge
mastoidectomy,
48
cases were reviewed retrospectively. Results : Among 48 patients, 24 (50%) were chronic otitis media and 12 (25%) were cholesteatomatous chronic otitis media. The methods of tympanoplasty were as follows : 11 cases of type I tympanoplasty (23%),
two
cases of type II tympanoplasty(4%), 21 cases of type III tympanoplasty (44%), and 14 cases of type IV tympanoplasty (29%). Postoperative air-bone gaps were improved by 12 dB in non-cholesteatoma group, and 0 dB in cholesteatoma group. The average
healing period was 13.6 weeks, with 80% being healed within a period of 4 months. Postopertative complications were as follows : one case of cholesteatoma, two cases of tympanic membrane perforation, one case of wound infection, and two cases of
pocket
retraction. Conclusions : Although the hearing gain was not impressive, intact bridge mastoidectomy allowed adequate visualization for eradication of pathologic tissue, and desirable anatomic configurations for ossiculoplasty and tympanoplasty.
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