Korean J Otolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2005 Dec;48(12):1452-1456.

The Effect of the Paper-patch Technique Trimmed with CO2 Laser on Treatment of Tympanic Membrane Perforation

• Kim MG

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Tympanic membrane (TM) perforations are not rarely encountered in clinical practice. However, there are controversies of how best to treat tympanic membrane perforation. In general, TM perforations can be closed by the standard tympanoplasty with high success rate. But, the tympanoplasty operation is inconvenient, has higher costs, relatively high risk of complications and needs to use general anesthesia frequently. So we have tried paper-patch techniques for the healing of TM perforation trimmed with CO2 laser on ambulatory basis. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of this new procedure. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: We retrospectively studied 77 ears of patients who underwent paper-patch techniques using CO2 laser between January, 1998 and December, 2003. The procedure was performed at OPD under local anesthesia. We investigated age, sex, causes of TM perforation, perforation size, post treatment TM morphology. RESULTS: Successful closure of the tympanic membrane perforation was achieved in 89 percent of ears (68/77). CONCLUSION: The paper-patch techniques for the healing of TM perforation trimmed with CO2 laser is a safe and successful procedure especially on small perforation.

Keyword

Tympanic membrane perforation; Lasers

MeSH Terms

Anesthesia, General
Anesthesia, Local
Ear
Humans
Lasers, Gas*
Retrospective Studies
Tympanic Membrane Perforation*
Tympanic Membrane*
Tympanoplasty