Korean J Otolaryngol-Head Neck Surg.  2006 Jan;49(1):23-28.

Clinical Analysis for Marginal Treatment of Tympanic Membrane Perforation with CO2 Laser Cauterization

• Kim MG

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Tympanic membrane perforations not healed spontaneously are frequently encountered diseases and have been known to require myringoplasty or the tympanoplasty in general. Many otolaryngologist have tried non-surgical procedures that are simple to perform, inexpensive and effective. We successfully treated tympanic membrane perforations using CO2 laser. The purpose of this report is to demonstrate the trial of this method in tympanic membrane perforations.
SUBJECTS AND METHOD
We retrospectively reviewed 25 patients who had successfully undergone margin cauterization treatment with CO2 laser for a persistent tympanic membrane perforation that healed without persistent perforation between January 1997 and December 2001. Information was collected on age, sex, the cause of perforation, the perforation size, number of laser therapy, post-treatment side effects and outcomes of treatment. RESULT: Patients that had perforation of less than 10% indicated complete healing after one time CO2 laser treatment and a short term follow-up period. Most of the 25 patients who were successfully treated indicated hearing improvement after the treatment. We found that, when the size of tympanic membrane perforation was smaller, the CO2 Laser cauterization was more effective.
CONCLUSION
The results showed that margin cauterization using CO2 laser is simple and effective on small size tympanic membrane perforation.

Keyword

Tympanic membrane perforation; Laser; Cautery

MeSH Terms

Cautery*
Follow-Up Studies
Hearing
Humans
Laser Therapy
Lasers, Gas*
Myringoplasty
Retrospective Studies
Tympanic Membrane Perforation*
Tympanic Membrane*
Tympanoplasty