THE RESULT OF HEARING IN PATIENTS TREATED BY SURGERY DUE TO CHRONIC OTITIS MEDIA

Background: Hearing loss due to chronic otitis media is common. The purpose of this study was to evaluate hearing before and after canal wall up, canal wall down mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty. Methods: From 2004 to 2007, all patients with chronic otitis media who were admitted at the Department of Otolaryngology, Babol Medical University were studied. For 126 patients' canal wall up, canal wall down mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty were done. Hearing before and after procedures were compared. Results: The mean age of the patients was 26.02 years (38.6% males and 61.4% females). One hundred-three patients suffered from conductive hearing loss, 8 from sensorineural hearing loss and 12 from mixed conductive and sensorineural hearing loss. Those who operated by tympanoplasty were age > 40 years (65%). Ninety- five percent of the patients who had conductive hearing loss cured (95%). There was no statistical significant differences between types of operation and improvement of hearing (p=0.009). Conclusion: The results show that improvement of hearing loss was seen in tympanoplasty, canal wall up and canal wall down in patients with chronic otitis media.