Important information about ear surgeries

Important information about ear surgeries

Ear surgeries such as eardrum repair, tympanoplasty, stapedectomy and mastoidectomy are important surgeries. It requires microsurgery and experience. The facial nerve passes through the ear area. This nerve can also be damaged by disease. It can also be injured during surgery. When the facial nerve is damaged, complications such as movement disorders on one side of the face, the eye not closing, and the mouth shifting downward on that side, significantly affect patients socially. Surgeries performed in eardrum surgeries or in the treatment of a progressive disease specific to the ear region, which we call cholesteatoma, are in the facial nerve region. Additionally, stapedectomy surgery performed in hearing impairment such as otosclerosis is also performed in this region. In addition, the balance organ and hearing organ in the inner ear are at risk, especially in cholesteatoma disease. When ear disease damages these areas, labyrinthitis occurs and the patient's hearing may be completely lost or balance disorder may occur. Likewise, this risk is present in tympanoplasty for eardrum repair or mastoidectomy for cholesteatoma and stapedectomy for otosclerosis treatment. That is why this surgery is performed under a microscope and there is a training curve that lasts for many years. In other words, these surgeries require great attention and experience. .

 The middle ear and inner ear are located adjacent to important tissues, and on the upper side of these regions are the middle cranial fossa and the meninges, and behind them are the posterior cranial cavity and the meninges. Due to the neighborhoods, life-threatening complications such as meningitis and brain abscess may occur in diseases and inflammations of this region, especially in cholesteatoma disease.

The patient's own tissue is used in eardrum repair surgeries, that is, tympanoplasty surgeries, which we perform on eardrum holes. Previously, the membrane on the muscles around the ear was used as material in the repair process. The success rate was not as much as we wanted. In recent years, the cartilages in front of and around the ear have been used in eardrum repair and the success rates of the surgeries have increased significantly. There is no aesthetic defect in the areas where the cartilages are removed.

In addition, some new materials called glass ionomer bone cement, which are used in the repair and joining of middle ear ossicles in tympanoplasty surgeries, have significantly increased the success rates in improving hearing. Timely treatments can eliminate future complications and the need for surgery. Therefore, ear diseases should not be neglected or underestimated.