By Marcello Cherchi, MD PhD
For patients
Some patients may develop a hole in the eardrum. Sometimes this hole can be repaired by an ear surgeon. In some cases this can be done in the surgeon’s office. In other cases it may be necessary to do it in an operating room in the hospital.
For clinicians
Tympanoplasty, also called myringoplasty, is a general term for repair of the tympanic membrane (TM). Common reasons for TM repair include traumatic rupture, rupture secondary to infection, or failure of the TM to heal following an otologic procedure (such as a myringotomy, removal of a tympanostomy tube, or unintended enlargement of a perforation following a transtympanic injection).
Depending on the size, location and circumstances of a discontinuity in the TM, tympanoplasty may be performed as an office procedure under local anesthesia, or in an operating room under general anesthesia (Fina and Chieffe 2019).
References
Fina M, Chieffe D (2019) Office-Based Otology Procedures. Otolaryngol Clin North Am 52: 497-507. doi: 10.1016/j.otc.2019.02.004
