Can A Ruptured Eardrum Be Repaired

Eardrum repair

Myringoplasty; Tympanoplasty; Ossiculoplasty; Ossicular reconstruction; Tympanosclerosis - surgery; Ossicular aperture - surgery; Ossicular fixation - surgery

Eardrum repair refers to one or more surgical procedures that are washed to correct a tear or other damage to the eardrum (tympanic membrane).

Ossiculoplasty is the repair of the small-scale bones in the middle ear.

Clarification

Most adults (and all children) receive general anesthesia. This means you lot'll be asleep and unable to feel pain. Sometimes, local anesthesia is used forth with medicine that makes yous sleepy.

The surgeon will make a cut backside the ear or inside the ear canal.

Depending on the problem, the surgeon will:

Make clean out any infection or dead tissue on the eardrum or in the middle ear.
Patch the eardrum with a piece of the patient'due south own tissue taken from a vein or muscle sheath (called tympanoplasty). This procedure will commonly take 2 to 3 hours.
Remove, supervene upon, or repair 1 or more than of the three niggling bones in the middle ear (called ossiculoplasty).
Repair smaller holes in the eardrum by placing either gel or a special paper over the eardrum (called myringoplasty). This procedure will ordinarily take 10 to 30 minutes.

The surgeon will utilize an operating microscope to view and repair the eardrum or the small basic.

Why the Procedure Is Performed

The eardrum is betwixt the outer ear and the middle ear. It vibrates when sound waves strike information technology. When the eardrum is damaged or has a hole in it, hearing may be reduced and ear infections may be more probable.

Causes of holes or openings in the eardrum include:

A bad ear infection
Dysfunction of the eustachian tube
Sticking something inside the ear culvert
Surgery to place ear tubes
Trauma

If the eardrum has a small pigsty, myringoplasty may work to close it. Most of the time, your medico will wait at least 6 weeks afterward the hole developed before suggesting surgery.

Tympanoplasty may be done if:

The eardrum has a larger pigsty or opening
There is a chronic infection in the ear, and antibiotics do not help
There is a buildup of extra tissue around or backside the eardrum

These same problems tin can also harm the very small bones (ossicles) that are right behind the eardrum. If this happens, your surgeon may perform an ossiculoplasty.

Risks

Risks for anesthesia and surgery in general are:

Reactions to medicines
Breathing issues
Haemorrhage, blood clots, infection

Risks for this procedure include:

Damage to the facial nerve or nerve controlling the gustatory modality
Damage to the minor basic in the heart ear, causing hearing loss
Dizziness or vertigo
Incomplete healing of the hole in the eardrum
Worsening of hearing, or, in rare cases, complete loss of hearing

Before the Procedure

Tell the health care provider:

What allergies you or your child may accept to any medicines, latex, tape, or peel cleanser
What medicines yous or your child is taking, including herbs and vitamins you bought without a prescription

On the day of the surgery for children:

Follow instructions virtually not eating or drinking. For infants, this includes breastfeeding.
Have whatever needed medicines with a modest sip of h2o.
If you or your child is ill on the morn of surgery, call the surgeon correct away. The procedure will need to be rescheduled.
Arrive at the infirmary on time.

After the Procedure

Y'all or your child may leave the infirmary the same day equally the surgery, just may demand to stay the night in example of any complications.

To protect the ear after surgery:

Packing will be placed in the ear for the first 5 to 7 days.
Sometimes a dressing covers the ear itself.

Until your provider says it is OK:

Practice not allow water to get into the ear. When showering or washing your hair, place cotton in the outer ear and cover information technology with petroleum jelly. Or, you can wear a shower cap.
Exercise non "pop" your ears or blow your olfactory organ. If you need to sneeze, practise so with your mouth. Describe whatever fungus in your nose back into your throat.
Avoid air travel and swimming.

Gently wipe away any ear drainage on the outside of the ear. Y'all may get eardrops the first calendar week. Do non put anything else into the ear.

If y'all accept stitches behind the ear and they go wet, gently dry the expanse. Practise not rub.

You or your child may feel pulsing, or hear popping, clicking, or other sounds in the ear. The ear may experience full or every bit if information technology is filled with liquid. In that location may be sharp, shooting pains off and on soon after the surgery.

To avoid catching a cold, stay away from crowded places and people with cold symptoms.

Outlook (Prognosis)

In most cases, the pain and symptoms are completely relieved. Hearing loss is small-scale.

The outcome may not exist as practiced if the basic in the centre ear need to exist reconstructed, forth with the eardrum.

References

Adams ME, El-Kashlan HK. Tympanoplasty and ossiculoplasty. In: Flint Prisoner of war, Francis HW, Haughey BH, et al, eds. Cummings Otolaryngology: Head and Cervix Surgery. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 142.

Chiffer R, Chen D. Myringoplasty and tympanoplasty. In: Eugene M, Snyderman CH, eds. Operative Otolaryngology Caput and Neck Surgery. third ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap 131.

Fayad JN, Sheehy JL. Tympanoplasty: outer surface grafting technique. In: Brackmann DE, Shelton C, Arriaga MA, eds. Otologic Surgery. 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2022:chap viii.

Version Info

Concluding reviewed on: 4/13/2020

Reviewed by: Josef Shargorodsky, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins University Schoolhouse of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Besides reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Managing director, and the A.D.A.Thousand. Editorial squad.