Pediatric partial gelfoam myringoplasty with ventilation tube placement

Objective: For children with a history of persistent Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) or otitis media with effusion presenting with recurring tympanic membrane (TM) perforation, surgeons must often balance the treatment goals of correcting the perforation and maintaining ventilation to the middle ear to prevent future perforation formation. A partial gelfoam myringoplasty with ventilation tube placement is a previously unreported procedural option for addressing these goals. The objective of this study is to describe the partial myringoplasty technique and report preliminary outcome data for the procedure.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 29 children <18 years old undergoing partial myringoplasty at a tertiary care children's hospital or satellite location. Size and course of initial perforation, time to tube extrusion, audiogram findings, and need for future otological procedures were studied.

Results: During a partial myringoplasty, a tympanostomy tube is placed in a TM perforation larger than the tube itself. The edges of the perforation are freshened, a tube is placed, and a piece of gelfoam is inserted to support the tube and to cover any remaining perforation. Out of 32 ears in 29 patients, 23 procedures were completed to correct existing perforations. The remainder were indicated in placement (n = 7) or replacement (n = 2) where the myringotomy or existing perforation was deemed too large to retain the tympanostomy tube without further support due to atelectatic or monomeric tympanic membranes. Thirteen tubes extruded within 1 year, of which 12 were Armstrong tubes and 1 was a T-tube. Out of 25 TM perforations corrected, 4 shrank in size and 2 did not close. For patients who underwent pre-surgical audiograms with findings indicating conductive hearing loss and had post-operative audiograms at follow-up, 8/10 showed improvement and 2/10 showed no change in hearing.

Conclusion: A partial myringoplasty is a simple procedure to close existing TM perforations while maintaining ventilation to the middle ear that can potentially improve hearing, provide ongoing ventilation, and eventually result in TM closure without the need for more complex repair. It may serve as a reasonable first line treatment for repair of perforations, reserving tympanoplasty for patients who fail this procedure.