Analysis of hearing improvement following fat graft myringoplasty

Abstract

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Fat graft myringoplasty (FGM) is a procedure with a short learning curve, cost effective, with minimal morbidity in properly selected patients. It is useful to relieve the patient of annoyance caused by a small perforation in terms of ear discharge and hearing loss. The aim was to assess postoperative hearing improvement and investigate influence of factors like age, gender and location of perforation on audiological outcomes.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> This study was a prospective study done on 25 patients at a tertiary care hospital who underwent FGM. All patients had small dry central perforation. Air and Bone conduction (AC/BC) thresholds and air-bone gap (ABG) were evaluated both preoperatively and postoperatively. </p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Mean hearing improvement was 14.4762 dB in <40 yrs age group whereas it was 11.2500 dB in >40 yrs age group. Mean hearing improvement in females was 13.75 dB whereas it was 14.154 dB in males. Mean hearing improvement was 15 dB in posterior, 14.7 dB in inferior and 14.46 dB in anteriorly located perforation.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> FGM is effective in improving postoperative hearing thresholds hence it can be used in small dry central perforations of tympanic membrane in patients irrespective of patient variables such as age, gender, and location of perforation. As no significant statistical difference was observed in terms of gender, location or aetiology of perforation, we consider it a procedure to be recommended across all spectrums of patients.</p>