Canal wall down versus canal wall up surgeries in the treatment of middle ear cholesteatoma

Authors: RECEP KARAMERT, FAKİH CİHAT ERAVCI, SÜLEYMAN CEBECİ, MEHMET DÜZLÜ, MEHMET EKREM ZORLU, NAGİHAN GÜLHAN YAŞAR, HAKAN TUTAR, MEHMET BİROL UĞUR, AYŞE İRİZ, YILDIRIM AHMET BAYAZIT

Abstract: Background/aim: To compare outcomes of canal wall up (CWU) and canal wall down (CWD) techniques in the treatment of middle ear cholesteatoma.Materials and methods: Medical records of 76 patients who had a primary surgery due to middle ear cholesteatoma between July 2015 and November 2017 were reviewed retrospectively. Hearing thresholds, speech discrimination scores (SDS), recurrences, and revision surgeries of CWU and CWD surgeries were compared. Results: Of 76 cholesteatoma cases, 40 (52.6%) had a CWU and 36 (47.4%) had a CWD operation. Postoperatively, the mean air conduction thresholds were significantly better in CWU compared to CWD surgeries (P = 0.016). The presence of the stapes and the type of reconstruction material used did not have a significant effect on auditory success rates (P = 0.342 and P = 0.905, respectively). Auditory success was affected by the status of the middle ear mucosa as well. The recurrence and revision rates did not differ between the surgical techniques (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Status of the middle ear mucosa and external auditory canal are important factors affecting the outcomes in cholesteatoma. Instead of a CWD surgery, a CWU surgery seems applicable in cases of cholesteatoma when the bone in the external auditory canal is not eroded by the disease.

Keywords: Cholesteatoma, mastoidectomy, tympanoplasty, ossicular replacement

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