What to expect from middle ear surgery

  The purpose of middle ear surgery is to remove middle ear lesions and restore normal middle ear anatomy and middle ear sound transmission function. Lesions in the middle ear include inflammation and cholesteatoma, sclerotic foci, and granulomas.  The symptoms of a middle ear lesion are pus flowing from the ear, discharge and hearing loss.  The middle ear lesions cause structural changes in the middle ear that affect the sound transmission function. During the surgical removal of middle ear lesions, the surgeon must have enough space to safely remove these lesions because of their deep location. The complete removal of the lesion is the key to ensure the formation of an intact tympanic membrane and dry ear after surgery, meaning that the removal of the lesion is the first thing the surgeon must consider, because even normal hearing can be damaged by the continuation of the lesion, and by the same token, even with good hearing reconstruction techniques, if there is still an infection after surgery, there will eventually be hearing loss.  If the infection is not very serious, the surgeon will perform structural reconstruction at the same time after removing the lesion. The purpose of middle ear reconstruction is to restore the normal anatomy and sound transmission function of the middle ear. This includes repair of the tympanic membrane, reconstruction of the auditory chain, and reconstruction of the outer ear canal wall or mastoid cavity filling.  The sound transmission function of the middle ear depends on the tympanic membrane, the air-containing middle ear cavity, and the effective conduction of the auditory chain, all of which are indispensable.  Patients with normal bone conduction hearing and intact tympanic membrane; 2. Patients with dry ears, normal bone conduction hearing and 40-60 dB air conduction hearing; 3. Patients with simple tympanic membrane perforation; 4. Patients with simple external auditory canal lesions; 5. Patients with simple fixation or interruption of the auditory chain.