The Factors Contributing to Hearing Gains after Chronic Ear Surgery: A Report from a Computerized Database / 대한이비인후과학회지

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: A computerized database system could provide benefit to reducing the variability of reporting results of chronic ear surgery, where a variety of factors may influence the outcomes. In the present study, the factors contributing to hearing gains after chronic ear surgery were investigated using a computerized database. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Audiometric data were easily drawn from the database log of 622 surgical cases of chronic otitis media done by one surgeon from 1989 to 1996. Of these, 309 were collected with the inclusion criteria being the period of no shorter than 3 months following tympanoplasty procedures. Post-operative hearing gains were compared according to the patient factor (sex, age), disease factors (unilateral vs bilateral disease, existence of cholesteatoma, preoperative otorrhea), surgery factor (primary versus revision operation, types of mastoidectomy, ossiculoplasty, hearing status of the operated ear), and the surgeon's experience. RESULTS: Pre- and post-operative air-bone gaps of the pure tone averages for the 309 cases studied were 34.6+/-13.4 dBHL and 24.9+/-13.8 dBHL, respectively. The post-operative hearing gains were 9.6+/-13.6 dBHL. The hearing gains did not differ significantly beween the groups when it is compared with regards to the factors, such as sex and age of patients, revision operation, hearing status, surgeon's experience. But the hearing gains differed with regards to the other factors, such as cholesteatoma, otorrhea, mastoidectomy and ossiculoplasty (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This kind of computerized database is very useful to assess the effect of factors on the hearing gains following chronic ear surgery.