Second stage surgery for otitis media – maximum possible hearing improvement

  Chronic suppurative otitis media is a relatively common clinical condition that is characterized by intermittent or persistent pus flow in the ear, tympanic membrane perforation, hearing loss and, in severe cases, intracranial and extracranial complications.  Because of its serious complications, chronic suppurative otitis media requires early surgical treatment. In the past, the aim of surgery for otitis media was to completely remove the lesion. With the improvement of living standards, people’s demand for quality of life is getting higher and higher, and so is their demand for hearing. Moreover, advances in technology have led to the rapid development of surgical techniques and applied materials related to chronic otitis media that can meet this requirement. In order to better improve hearing, stage II surgery for otitis media has now become the mainstream in developed countries in Europe and America, with more than 80% of patients with otitis media undergoing stage II surgery. More than 80 percent of patients with otitis media undergo second-stage surgery, which allows them to completely remove the lesion in the first stage and reconstruct their hearing in the second stage, giving them a better outcome.  Compared to traditional stage I surgery, stage II surgery has obvious advantages: 1. Complete removal of the lesion, reducing the possibility of recurrence. Since there is no reconstruction involved, the surgeon can concentrate on removing the lesion. 2. The second-stage surgery can be re-probed for residual lesion tissue, further reducing recurrence; 3. The second-stage surgery has better hearing reconstruction results. Whether the hearing bone reconstruction is made of ceramic material or titanium alloy material, it is an implant with no surrounding blood vessels, which can become a hidden lesion. Foreign literature reports that the percentage of hearing bone loss after 10 years of phase I surgery is as high as 38%. Given so many advantages, phase II surgery is bound to become the mainstream of otitis media surgery in China.